Fatherly Advice
by dripley11
Summary: After Chiron tells him to go home, Percy is in desperate need of someone to talk to. His friend is in danger, nobody in Camp will even speak to him because they all believe he cost them the CTF game against the Hunters, and his brother is too busy in the Cyclopes forges. "O, Iris," he asks. "Show me Poseidon, God of the Seas." The fatherly advice he gets will change the fates.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Percy Jackson stalked back into his father's cabin while feeling at his absolute _worst_.

He'd battled the Minotaur, Ares the God of War, and the cyclops Polyphemus for starters. The fourteen-year-old boy had been betrayed by a person who he'd once called friend: Luke.

But _now_ things were even worse: The entire cast of year-long Campers – minus Clarisse since she was curiously absent because of a quest Chiron had given her, but Percy was pretty sure that she hated his guts regardless – all blamed him for costing the Camp the Capture the Flag game against the Hunters, Thalia was now studiously ignoring him like the plague – refusing to even glance at him now – and Grover was off embarrassing himself for that nasty Huntress Zoë Nightshade, and to top it all off there's the small fact that the one person that the green-eyed boy was somewhat sure would've at least talked to him right now was gone.

That thought continued to send a hard pang in his chest every time he'd remembered it the past couple of days since Apollo had dropped them all back at Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth was gone. Vanished into the air, and that was the only way it could be described as, since he would've been able to sense her falling into the sea from that cliff face. Seeing her in that dream the other night didn't give him any assurances aside from the fact that she was actually alive.

_This sucks,_ Percy thought sourly as he took out his blonde friend's Invisibility Cap and set it on his nightstand, right next to the lone trophy he kept: the Minotaur Horn which he used to kill the bull-like monstrosity two years ago. "I really need someone to talk to," he murmured aloud. "You'd probably have an idea, Wise Girl – what-with you being so smart and all."

Chiron had just left him after their little chat. Just because Zoë didn't want him to join them on their quest, he was being forced to go back home and wait out the winter for news on whether or not his friend was still alive or not, and that didn't sit well with him. Not at all. He just _knew_ he needed to be on this quest, but Chiron had just about ordered him home, and he really didn't want to distrust the centaur's advice. Percy couldn't just sit on his hands though, it wasn't in his nature.

The black-haired boy then looked to the back of the cabin and stared at the new water basin. The stress was beginning to claw at him, and he desperately needed to talk to _someone_ and he's supposed to call his mother and let her know he'll be coming home now, so he walked over to the small pool of saltwater and pulled out a single golden drachma from beneath its surface.

The young demigod then placed the drachma Chiron had given him into his pants' pocket so that he could call his mom later, and stood there and pondered on who he should try to talk to. "Tyson?" he asked himself. He shook his head and reminded himself, "No. I just called him yesterday and he told me that he was getting really busy now. I'll try Mom as a last option. Dad?

"Why not?" he shrugged. "It's been two years since we've actually talked, hasn't it? I know Tyson said that he's busy now, but it can't hurt to see if he'll accept the call. If he can't talk, then I'll try mom.

"Iris," he began the chant for the I.M., "O' Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering." As he recited the required chant, he tossed the drachma in his hand into the misty rainbow he'd just created. "Show me Poseidon: God of the Seas. I…don't really know where he is right now. Try either Olympus or Atlantis… I think."

The misty haze remained black in front of him for a full minute. The young child of Poseidon wanted to be patient, but his ingrained battle instincts – or his A.D.H.D., in other words – refuse to let him stay still for very long. His eyes flickered over to the damaged shield his half-brother had made for him last summer, then to the blank mist, then over to his nightstand, and then back to the attempted Iris Message.

Percy let out a resigned sigh. "I guess he can't talk," he mumbled bitterly. "And just when I want to get some advice he's –"

"Percy!"

The son of Poseidon stopped as he heard that voice come from the mist in front of him. "D-Dad?" he called back, unsure of his ears. It had been a while, but he didn't actually believe that the God of the Seas would accept the call.

"Thank the gods," his father let out a relieved breath as his face showed up in front of his demigod child. "I'm sorry, but Triton had me in a war meeting so I had to hurry it up and finish it before I could talk."

"Huh?" was the child's reply.

A grim smile was on his father's face as he said, "War is coming to the seas, Percy. My predecessors are on the rise, and I must prepare for them. I also had to make sure that Zeus wasn't listening in on us."

"Why would he do that?"

A small chuckle came from the God of the Seas as he slightly smiled. "My brother doesn't like it when we gods have contact with our mortal children."

"Again: Why?"

"Don't really know," Poseidon answered with a shrug. "My brother has always been the paranoid one in the family." A few rumbles of thunder echoed in the sky. "He likes to monitor all I.M.s going into and out of Olympus because he's afraid one of us will end up plotting with our children to take over his seat of power. He forgets that not even Heracles was ever powerful enough to challenge him directly, and none of us have children even half as strong as he was just yet.

"So, why'd you call, Percy?" his father asked nicely.

He didn't know what the cause was, but Poseidon's mortal child suddenly felt unbearably _angry_ at seeing his father's face. "Geez, I don't know," he said to his father with barely-restrained rage. "It _might_ have to do with my friend being in danger. It _could_ be because I _know_ that I _have _to be on this quest that Thalia, Grover, and those three Huntresses are going on. Or, maybe it's the fact that _you – haven't – been – there –for me_!"

The God wearing the Hawaiian shirt winced at his child's angry voice. "Listen, Percy –" he tried to say before the furious boy continued on.

"But it's _true_!" Percy howled. "I can understand that you have your job to do, I really can, but that doesn't excuse your _total absence_ in my life! And don't even get me started on all the pain Mom's felt! Is it really that hard to just send something, anything!? A letter once in a while!?"

Poseidon's bearded face was unreadable as he asked, "Are you finished?"

"No," the demigod snorted. "But I can hold off the rest for now."

"Percy," the father began to speak affectionately. "I know. Everything. All you just said is true, and I'm truly sorry I haven't been there for you when you needed me."

"I didn't need you there all the time," he informed his father. "But I would've like to at least _seen _you once or twice. Yes, I felt better whenever I was around water, but that's not the same, father."

"I… I know, Percy," Poseidon relented with a depressed sigh. "It's just… If you'd known about me, then –"

"Yeah, yeah, I know already," the fourteen-year-old drawled. "Monsters would've come for me. Newsflash: Even when I _didn't _know, they still found me! At least _now_ I can protect myself and mom!"

"Son, I'm sorry," the God reiterated. "I know many things need to be said, but if all you're going to do is yell at me then I've got other things I need to do."

Immediately, Percy's anger vanished into thin air and he felt like a small child needing his father once his mind had fully processed what he'd just been told. "Wait!" he nearly pleaded as his father made to sever the connection between them. "I…could use some advice, dad," he admitted in a small voice.

An affectionate smile graced the Sea God's tanned face as he asked, "What is it, son?"

"A bunch of stuff has happened."

"Tell me everything, my boy," Poseidon prompted him to start.

Percy settled himself on the edge of his bed, and he did just so. He was glad to be able to speak with his dad and hopefully get some good fatherly advice.

* * *

"So that's all?" Poseidon asked as Percy had just finished telling him about choosing to try and give him a call.

"That's it," Percy answered with an affirmative nod.

"So, in summary," his father began to recount what he'd just been told. "You, my niece, and your friend were called to help bring a few Half-Bloods to Camp, and while there you all encountered the Manticore. You were able to rescue the two with Artemis' assistance, but you lost Athena's child. My fellow Olympian then left and _Apollo_, of all people, took you all and Artemis' Hunters to Camp Half-Blood. Then you had a dream where you realized where your friend is in danger. Then you had the customary C.T.F. game, and everyone thinks you're the reason you lost. Finally, now my niece, the satyr who found you, and three of little Arty's girls are going on the quest you believe you should be on."

"Arty?" the green-eyed son parroted. A small bit of amusement made it into his mind as he wondered how the graceful Goddess of the Hunt would take being called that by his father.

"My immortal niece," Poseidon answered.

"I gathered as much," Percy grinned. "And… yeah, that's all of it." His green eyes then blinked as he realized how easily his father had explained in a few seconds what had taken him a few hours to tell. "Oh, and don't forget how everyone hates me."

Poseidon's own sea-green eyes rolled. "Okay, so what is it you want advice on, Percy? You don't need as much as you think."

"Huh?"

"The way you explained things makes it seem to me that you _can't _do much, Percy," his father explained. "I mean the _Oracle of Delphi herself_ actually walked out to personally deliver a prophecy to Zoë, and it doesn't look like you're included in this one."

"But," he tried to protest, "my friend's in trouble, dad! I can't just leave her to die! I have to do something!"

"Gods," the God grumbled under his breath as he smacked his face, "Athena was right. I can't tell you _not _to go, but I do advise against it, Percy. A few people have tried to interfere with prophecies from the outside before, and the results are _not_ pretty."

"But I can't just let Annabeth die, dad!" Percy insisted. "We've been through too much together for me to just abandon her!"

Poseidon took in and let out a tired breath. "Just as stubborn as me," he murmured. "Alright," he relented. "If you're so insistent on intruding, then the least I can do is offer you this: You, Percy, have the greatest affinity for all of my godly abilities out of all of my children – immortal or no."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked him curiously.

"I'm afraid I can't say more," the God of the Seas revealed cryptically. "Just…think about what-I-just-said's meaning, okay, Percy?"

Percy's green eyes widened as he finally thought about the potential his father's words revealed to him. "Are you saying," he asked, "that I could do most of what you can do, dad? That I'm not just able to –"

"I can't say," his father interjected.

"What _can_ you say then?" Percy asked, his impatience beginning to bubble over at not being able to get a straight answer from his father.

"Nothing further on that," his father informed him. "It wouldn't help your development if I just told you everything, Percy. Most of the fun is in discovering the powers for yourself anyways," he told his child with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

The corners of the demigod's lips twitched upwards as he remembered his accidental first usage and inadvertent discovery of his control over water over two years ago. "Yeah," he finally agreed. "It is more fun that way. I wonder if Thalia is prepared to be my unwilling test dummy."

The pair of father and son both chuckled together. Poseidon calmed down first and said with a noticeable hint of amusement in his sea-green eyes and his voice, "Now, take it easy on her, Percy."

"No permanent damage," the son conceded with mirth in his eyes.

Thunder rumbled in the sky.

"It seems," the God continued to chuckle, "that my brother doesn't like that." He let out one last laugh before saying, "It's been great talking to you, my son. Unfortunately, Oceanus' forces grow larger and I must return to my duties."

"It…was great to finally get to talk to you, dad," Percy told him with an affectionate smile. "I really needed that."

"My boy," Poseidon told him, "I am always around. Even if you do not see me, even if you believe I can't help you, remember that you are my son. And out of all my children so far, _you_ are my favorite, Percy."

"I'm honored, dad," the green-eyed youth answered respectfully.

"It's not about honor, it's about you, my boy," the Sea God said to him. "Also, before I go, there is one other thing I wish to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Before you go off and join this quest without permission," the God grinned at his son, "remember this: The Sea never forgets her children; even if her children believe that she's abandoned them, she still remembers."

_What's that about?_ Percy silently wondered. He scratched his head, unsure of his father's meaning, as he said, "Uh… Thanks, I guess. I'll remember that."

"I hope you will, my boy," the God of the Sea told him with a grim frown. "I truly hope that you do."

And with that ominous farewell, the Iris Message shimmered out of reality, leaving the Son of Poseidon standing over the fountain with an out-of-place-on-him contemplative look on his face.

_What was dad alluding to?_ Percy wondered. "Whatever it's supposed to be, it sounded important," he voiced his thoughts. "Might it have to do with –"

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

A heavy pounding on his cabin's front door interrupted his avenue of thought. "Who is it?" he called to the door in response.

_Boss!_ Blackjack's voice screamed in his head. _Open up, boss! Big trouble! Need your help!_

"Blackjack!" Percy exclaimed in recognition. The son of the Sea God then bounded across his cabin and threw open the door. "What is it?"

_Big trouble!_ the black Pegasus repeated. _Climb on boss, I'll take you where you're needed._

The green-eyed demigod let out a resigned sigh. _This is the thirteenth time this month,_ he mentally whined. "Alright," he relented weakly before climbing onto the back of his trusted friend. "Let's go then, Blackjack."

_Hold on tight, boss!_ His steed told him as the horse's hind legs flexed for take-off. _We're gonna be moving quick!_

Percy gripped Blackjack's mane with his hands tightly and squeezed the black midsection with his heels in order to prevent himself from being blown off. Being the child of the being whom created horses and – through them – Pegasi gave him good natural horse-riding instincts, but Blackjack's speed had nearly blown him off multiple times while in flight before.

The Pegasus underneath him extended his majestic wings and gave them a powerful flap, creating a small breeze that whispered in the clearing and made the trees lean slightly. Blackjack then reared up before slamming his front hoofs into the ground and began to gallop forward.

Percy felt the air begin to cut into his face with more and more ferocity as his steed flapped his wings and picked up speed on the ground. _Maybe I should've brought a windbreaker,_ the young demigod thought in a morbid humor as the black Pegasus kicked his front hooves off of the ground with his wings beating steadily as the pair of Pegasus and rider took to the air.

As he was the son of the Sea God, the moisture in the air during the brief flight didn't stick to him and freeze him while flying; that was the lucky part, as it kept him from being covered in ice as the air whipped on him in below freezing temperatures. Unluckily, he couldn't command the wind that sent icy tendrils of air through his clothes and made him feel as though he was stuck in a meat freezer.

Even with the cold though, very little could ever offer Percy the same elation that he felt every time he and Blackjack flew together. Being able to skim over the salty waves of the sea, while traveling at speeds no sports car could even come close to, sent adrenaline swimming through his veins. As more seawater sprayed onto his face, with each drop allowing him a small sense of serenity, Percy closed his eyes and smiled.

"Nothing will ever beat flying," Percy murmured to himself.

_Boss!_ Blackjack screamed. _We're here!_

The black-haired demigod's sea-green eyes opened at his partner's words. He glanced downwards and noticed that the Pegasus was beating his wings in a slow, steady rhythm as they both circled over a small area of saltwater.

_Straight down,_ the Pegasus informed him. _The hippocampi are waiting for you below._

"Thanks," Percy grumbled as he brought both of his legs to one side of the horse's body. He heard his steed whinny once as he then threw himself off and fell straight down.

Being the son of Poseidon, the icy seawater welcomed his presence with a semi-warm embrace as Percy splashed into the sea. The young demigod then redirected himself directly downwards like Blackjack had told him and willed the currents to propel him into the blackness below.

The speedy ocean currents which he manipulated shot him straight down at speeds no sea vessel could ever reach. Murky blackness shot by him as he continued to descend straight down to the seafloor.

As Percy neared the bottom, he slowed his descent as he noticed the figures of three white-haired horses whose hind-quarters were fish tails. _These _were the real sea-horses: the Hippocampi.

The three hippocampi were swimming in a semi-frantic fashion in equal distance from one another in a perfect circle, as if they were highlighting a certain area for him to look at. The sea-horses' tails glimmered in the faint moonlight that had managed to filter down through the layers of seawater in all the different hues of the rainbow. They were truly majestic creatures with a wonderful natural beauty about them, regardless of their palpable nervousness.

The black-haired demigod child tore his gaze away from the mythological creatures and focused his eyes in on where the three hippocampi were circling. He immediately recognized an overturned boat – not too large, but he could tell that it had once been a fishing vessel. As he swam closer, he noticed something underneath the sunken ship.

Percy swam further and saw that something was tangled in a fishing net and the creature was wedged halfway under the boat. The young demigod frowned as he inspected the scene. _I really hate those things,_ he thought about the net.

His green eyes darted around and noticed how hopelessly stuck the poor creature really was, and he grew a little worried for the entangled animal's fate as he realized that the hull of the wreckage was close to falling off of the rock it was on and that it would fall directly onto the entangled sea creature he was supposed to save.

The hippocampi neighed in anxiety and worry as the hull of the sunken ship creaked while the captured creature continued to squirm around in a vain attempt to free itself from the net. One of the horses swam over and tried gnawing on the ropes of the net, but it couldn't accomplish anything, so it whinnied in worry and disappointment before swimming back to join its brethren.

One of the frantic fish-tailed horses noticed Percy's approach and begged him, _Free it, lord!_

The son of Poseidon gave the trio an affirmative nod before swimming closer towards the small entanglement. _It kinda looks like a baby hippocampus,_ he noted at first glance. _But baby hippocampi don't –_

"Moo!" the creature wailed in pain.

"…do that," he finished aloud. The demigod swam around the sunken boat and the creature's entire form was revealed to him.

Percy's green eyes blinked, uncertain if what he was seeing was actually real. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, but once he removed his hands he noticed that he wasn't hallucinating at all: He was really looking at a true sea-cow.

This thing had to be some kind of mythological creature, as no other explanation made any sense to him. It was a _literal_ sea-cow, not a manatee. It had the torso and head of a black calf that looked as if it'd just been born very recently. The creature's black fur, big brown eyes, and white muzzle were accompanied by a back-end that was black, scaly, and serpent-like in appearance that had some fins going up its entire length. The closest way Percy could come up with which would fit the creature was that he was looking at what you would get if you combined a cow and an eel.

"Hey there, little one," Percy greeted the bovine-ish creature kindly as he reached into his jeans' pocket slowly. "Where did you come from?"

The young creature merely looked at him with sad eyes and mournfully cried, "Moo!"

_Well that's…odd,_ he thought. _Usually I can at least hear some surface thoughts of any sea creature, but I'm getting nothing from her._

_We don't know what it is,_ one of the hippocampi informed him. _Many strange things have been stirring._

"So I've heard," the demigod mumbled as he thought back to what the manticore had said to him on that last rescue mission.

He pulled out a brown pen from his pocket and uncapped it. The small pen then extended and in length and transformed into his meter-long, celestial bronze sword, Riptide.

The cow-serpent's eyes went wide with terror as it witnessed the blade appear. It let out a panicky howl as it began to wildly thrash around in an attempt to hurriedly untangle itself, but ended up only getting itself further and further restrained by the fishing net.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Percy cried to the creature currently freaking out. "I'm not going to hurt you! I'm just going to cut the net!"

However, either the cow-serpent didn't hear him or didn't believe him, as it continued to crash underneath the net wildly in a desperate attempt to free itself and flee from the blade. Percy looked up as he heard the downed ship's hull creak and groan as it began to shift and became even closer to falling on top of the entangled sea creature due to its frantic movements.

The hippocampi decided to join in on the panic then, as they began to frantically gallop around in the water. Their wild movements caused the water to shift and a small current began to push on the sunken ship, further complicating things by contributing to it potentially crushing the helpless cow-like creature.

"Okay, okay!" Percy tried to assure all four of the panicking creatures by speaking as firm, but calm, as he could. He quickly capped Riptide and the blade quickly shrunk down into its pen form and he hurriedly put it away. He then held up his hands for the cow to see and said, "It's cool. No sword, see? No sword."

The son of Poseidon then began to calm the frantic creatures by speaking to the slowly-calming sea-cow with serene nothings. He doubted that the bovine could understand what he was saying, but it responded to his tone and eventually returned to a semi-calm state.

_Free it, lord!_ All three hippocampi pleaded with him at once, causing him a small headache.

"I'm on it," Percy told them. "Just let me think for a minute."

The demigod's eyes flickered all around him, taking in everything he saw: The dangerous closeness of the ship to finally falling, the cautious stare of the cow, and the skittish and nervous three hippocampi above him. As his gaze fell back to the sunken vessel, Percy recalled what his father had told him earlier and an idea appeared in his head.

_The hippocampi aren't calm enough,_ he noted with a small frown. _They may not be able to do what I need 'em to exactly. I guess I'll try it solo then._ "Hold tight," the child of Poseidon said to every creature present. "I'm going to get you out of that net, Bessie."

"Moo!"

_Did that cow just sound annoyed?_ Percy thought in shock. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts before saying to nobody in particular, "Here goes nothing."

The young demigod then felt the sea around him and began to redirect as many of the currents as he possible could. The tugging sensation in his gut became slightly painful and caused him to slightly wince as he forced half of the currents to push the ship up off of the downed bovine and the other half of the currents focused on pushing the hunk of steel back towards a somewhat stable place to leave it.

The metallic ship groaned in protest as the pressure around it increased due to Percy's powers and he grit his teeth as he began to feel sweat fall down his face from his effort. He dug his feet into the seafloor, kicking up some loose dirt into the sea around him, and used his hands to direct the flow of all the currents he was controlling. The painful tug in his stomach kept on growing and he began to wonder the merits of attempting this alone, but he forced himself to keep at it and succeed.

Aside from the metallic hull's groaning, the sea around the son of Poseidon was deathly quiet as he continued to press onwards. Each of the hippocampi were murmuring amongst themselves in awe at seeing their lord push himself so far to save a fellow sea creature, while the cow-serpent he came here to save was staring at him with wide, astonished eyes.

"I'm the son of Poseidon," Percy reminded himself. "The God of the Sea, Lord of Sea-Storms, and the Earthshaker. I _will_ do this, if only to prove to _myself_ that I _am – the – strongest!_"

Percy let out a great war cry as the tugging pain in his stomach began to reach nearly unbearable levels.

"I…won't…lose!" the young child of Poseidon roared as he brought both of his hands above his head in a quick upwards sweeping motion, directing all of the currents under his command to force the ship off of the cow so the hippocampi could pull the captured creature away from the danger of being crushed by three tons of steel.

The force of each current doubled at his will and pushed with such force that the metal ship offered one last great moan in protest before being sent soaring off into the murky depths at great speeds. The sunken vessel's metallic hull colliding with a seawall out of sight rang out through the waters so loud that the three hippocampi neighed and whinnied in panic before galloping around and acting like dogs that were afraid of thunder.

All-of-a-sudden, Percy's body felt like it weighed ten tons. His limbs felt like they were limp noodles trying to move around in frozen jell-o. He was beyond exhausted after his effort.

The black-haired young demigod swayed from side to side as he tried to keep standing. As he looked over, he noticed the cow-serpent's net had been blown off of it somehow and the creature's big, brown eyes were looking at him in awe.

"I'm…not much, Bessie," he tiredly told the sea-serpent. As he swayed too far forward and began to fall to the seafloor, he asked the sea, "Did you see that…dad?"

A pair of slender arms caught the young child of the Sea as he fell and the last thing he heard before darkness took him, "He did, Percy Jackson, and he couldn't be prouder."

A small smile graced his face as his eyes closed shut and he passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

**A/N:** Welcome all, to my attempt at a Percy Jackson fic! In case you didn't know, this story begins in the Third Book _The Titan's Curse_ right after Percy is told to call his mother by Chiron once the quest to rescue Artemis is called forth.

I hope you all enjoy it, as I know I have already. Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Percy's green eyes opened and he quickly realized where he was: He'd come back to the same barren cave he'd dreamt about the other night.

Annabeth was still kneeling on the rocky ground, with her shoulders underneath a gigantic black mass that seemed to be a huge pile of boulders. The blonde girl's entire body quivered in exhaustion as her legs started to give out on her.

Deep, terrible bags were underneath her tightly shut eyes, indicating that she'd been offered no respite from the burden she took from Luke at all. Her brows were furrowed in concentration and determination as she bit down on her lip. Sweat fell from her chin like raindrops and echoed as they met the ground as Annabeth continued to hold up her load. The outfit she'd been wearing was soaked with sweat while dust and grime were clinging to her form and hair, giving her a ragged appearance that would've made all of the Aphrodite girls vomit.

_It's going to fall,_ Percy realized as his friend let out a meek whimper of pain. _Somebody – anybody – help her!_

"How is our mortal guest?" A deep voice boomed in the darkness, the force of the voice itself causing the very ground to shake. Percy realized that the owner of this voice wasn't Kronos, as this person's voice was too deep and bass-y to be the Lord of Time.

Percy's eyes shifted slightly as he witnessed the darkness part and Luke emerged from the shadows, looking even paler than usual. The half-blood traitor hurriedly went over to where Annabeth was shaking under the ceiling she'd been holding up and knelt beside her. The son of Hermes then placed one of his hands on the girl's forehead before retracting it and answering the unseen specter, "She's fading fast. We need to hurry."

_Hypocrite!_ Percy desperately wished to scream out at the older demigod, but he was merely a spectator to the scene and was unable to interact with anything aside from mere observation. _If you really cared about her, then you'd have never betrayed all of us!_

The unseen owner of the deep voice chuckled in what seemed to be a dark humor. A large hand then threw someone into his vision, with their hands and feet bound in celestial bronze chains.

The green-eyed son of Poseidon gasped as he recognized the beaten and bloodied form of the Goddess of the Hunt: Artemis. Her silvery dress was torn and in tatters which left barely anything but the important areas covered – even if it was a dream, he still had to suppress a blush at seeing the Goddess' state of dress. The auburn-haired girl's body was covered in scrapes, unhealed bruises, and cuts which oozed out the blood of the immortals: Golden Ichor.

Golden liquid dripped off of her fingers and chin and the sound of the Ichor dripping onto the cavern's floor eerily echoed in the cave.

"You heard the boy!" the deep voice reminded her loudly. "Decide! Else the girl will perish under my former burden!"

The Moon Goddess' silver eyes flashed with pure, unadulterated rage as she saw Annabeth's form. She then glared into the darkness to Percy's right and screamed, "How _dare_ you torture a maiden like this! No mortal can withstand such a thing for long!"

"Exactly!" the unseen person exclaimed with glee. Percy felt a chill crawl up his back as he felt the feral smirk appear in the darkness behind him.

"She'll die soon," Luke pointed out to the furious goddess. "You can save her."

Annabeth's face creaked up, and Percy felt his stomach turn into a knot as she opened her stormy-grey eyes and looked at the young goddess. The daughter of Athena let out a small whimper in protest and just barely managed to shake her head at Artemis.

Percy understood the message clearly, and he felt his chest clench painfully as he realized Annabeth's unsaid words: _Leave me to die. It's a trap._ The only question was if the Maiden Goddess would do it or not.

Percy wasn't able to read the auburn-haired goddess' carefully neutral face as she blankly stared at the blonde girl. It remained that way for a few moments, with her silver eyes meeting directly with the daughter of Athena's grey ones.

_Please,_ Percy wanted to beg of the goddess, but he couldn't reach out to anything. _Save her, Lady Artemis. Please don't let her die!_

As he began to lose hope, a tremor went through the cavern, causing dust to fall from the ceiling and flutter around, and making Annabeth let out a pained yelp. She shut her eyes tightly again as she trembled in pain and her mouth opened in a silent scream.

"Free my hands," Artemis finally spoke to Luke evenly, causing the green-eyed observer to let out a small breath in relief.

The blonde son of Hermes slowly stood back up as he began to unsheathe his unique blade, Backbiter. The half-Celestial Bronze, half-steel blade glittered in what little light was present in the cavern menacingly as its wielder walked over to the determined goddess. With an expert swing, the Celestial Bronze cuffs on Artemis' wrists shattered and fell to the ground, their clangs of hitting the floor echoing in the darkness.

A second strike of the cursed blade broke the links of the auburn-haired girl's ankle cuffs and the newly-freed goddess wasted no time in sprinting across the length of the cavern to Annabeth's side. She then knelt down and placed a single hand on the black mass, but before she could fully take the burden from Annabeth's shoulders, the blonde girl tried to stop her as she furiously shook her head.

"Please…don't," Annabeth barely managed to rasp out in an attempt to dissuade the Goddess. "It's what…they want."

"I know," Artemis whispered in response too low for anyone other than Percy and Annabeth to hear her. "Have faith, young one, as we are being watched right now." Annabeth's grey eyes widened in realization to her meaning before the goddess finished, "Yes, it is he, and I hold no doubts that he will inform the others as to our current fates."

The Goddess' silver eyes then flickered over and gave Percy a hard gaze, forcing him to gulp. _I guess I need to tell Zoë about this,_ he figured with a small scowl.

"Now rest, daughter of Athena," Artemis spoke to Annabeth. "I will bear the burden of Atlas for now. We will need your strength later."

With that, the Goddess of the Hunt then shifted her form into that of a young woman around the age of seventeen. Her body grew in height by about six inches, her arms grew toned and muscled as they lengthened, and her auburn tresses fell down from the top of her shoulders to the bottom of her shoulder blades.

Percy had to remind himself just _who _he was looking at in order to stop himself from ogling the woman as the goddess' figure had now grown into a buxom beauty, and the silver dress she wore did not repair itself once her body grew larger. He forced his gaze to the floor as what remained of the silver-eyed young woman's dress covered even less now than it just had mere moments ago.

The Goddess of the Hunt then pressed her other hand to the ceiling and willingly took the burden upon herself. Annabeth collapsed to the floor immediately, unconscious and barely breathing as her prone body twitched randomly.

The shadowed man chuckled as he declared with a sense of superiority and victory, "You are as predictable as you were easy to defeat, Artemis."

"You took me by surprise," the auburn-haired woman spoke, her voice revealing just how much she was truly straining under her new ordeal. "I can guarantee it shall not occur again."

"Indeed it won't," the man agreed haughtily. "Now, you cannot interfere at all! I knew you couldn't help but assist such a young maiden. That is, after all, what you do, my dear. You did take in my dear, wayward, daughter, did you not?"

Artemis let out a pained moan before telling the unseen man, "You know nothing of mercy, you swine. That is why my father kept you out of Tartarus: You would've enjoyed it there."

"On that," the man said to her, and Percy could feel the man's grin, "we can agree. Luke, you may now kill the girl."

"No!" Artemis screamed. "You foul fiend!" she snarled into the darkness.

Luke grimaced as he hesitated to follow his last instruction. "She… She can still be useful to us, sir. Better bait."

The deep voice scoffed, causing another tremor in the cave. "Bah! You truly believe that, boy?"

"Yes, General," the blonde demigod tried to sound confident. "Our spies say that _he_ isn't coming as a part of the new quest for Artemis. I can guarantee that _he_ will come – regardless of the quest – so long as we keep her alive. Of this, I'm sure."

The unseen man paused as he considered Luke's words. If Percy didn't hate the traitor so much he wanted to strangle him on site, then he might've actually felt grateful towards the blonde for preventing Annabeth's death.

"Very well then," the deep voice eventually agreed after a few moments consideration. "If that is the case then the dracaenae may guard her for the time. Assuming her injuries do not kill her, she will be allowed to live until the winter solstice. After that, should the sacrifice proceed as planned, then her life will be meaningless to us. The life of _every_ mortal shall be meaningless."

Luke bowed to the darkness and thanked the man in the shadows for his wisdom. He then picked up Annabeth's listless body from the ground and princess-carried her away from the now-sweating goddess.

"You will never find the monster you seek," Artemis spat out. "Your plan will fail, just as it did last time you rose."

"How little you truly know, my young goddess," the man said haughtily. "Even now, your darling servants prepare to begin their quest to save you. Everything they will try will play directly into my hands. Now, if you'll please excuse us, we have a long way to go in a single day. We must greet your Hunters and ensure that their quest is…interesting."

"You're a monster," Artemis snarled back.

The man's mocking laughter echoed in the cavern's darkness, with its power shaking the entire cave with such ferocity that it seemed the whole ceiling would collapse on top of the struggling Moon Goddess.

* * *

Percy's eyes flew open as he sat up and let out a strangled gasp for air.

"Peace, young hero," a gentle voice called to him from his left as he began to slow his breathing. "You are here, in your father's domain, safe from your vision."

Percy shut his eyes and focused his efforts on calming his rapidly-beating heart. After taking a few deep, slow breaths with his hand over his chest, he felt his pulse begin to slow back down to normal.

He opened his eyes after successfully preventing his heart from bursting and took in where he was. The sea-green-eyed boy noticed that he was still right where he'd been before he'd passed out. The three hippocampi were gleefully neighing as they galloped around above him, with each of them declaring to everything possible that their lord had succeeded in rescuing a fellow sea creature and had proven himself to be the strongest.

The black-haired teen's eyes widened in fear once he realized that he couldn't locate the reason why he had been called here in the first place. "Bessie!" he worriedly called out, afraid that the cow-serpent had been injured somehow in his actions earlier.

"Moo!" came a familiar bovine's call in response to his right.

Percy's head whirled in the direction he'd just heard the cow's call and let out a relieved breath once he noticed that the formerly-captured creature was free of the net and was currently enjoying its freedom by swimming in gleeful loop-de-loops. "I was worried," he said, relieved that his efforts weren't in vain.

"You need not have been," a voice came from directly behind him, scaring him nearly out of his skin. The young demigod whirled around and came face-to-face with a young woman who looked to be around eighteen who had a small smile on her face. "It is good you have awakened, Perseus Jackson," she told him with a kindly smile.

"Who…are you?" Percy asked with slightly narrowed eyes. _I could swear I've seen her before somewhere, but where?_

The young woman with glowing eyes and brown hair laughed softly before declaring, "We have met, young one, but we have never spoken before."

His green eyes widened in shock at hearing her words as if she'd just read his thoughts. "You're a Goddess," he breathed out in awe as he realized it.

"That I am," she nodded to him.

"How… How are you…" he tried to ask without trying to offend the goddess before him.

The woman's glowing eye's light then began to slowly recede until they could be seen like a normal mortals, except her irises were both a bright orange. She stood up and offered him her hand as she told him, "Your father and I are friends, Percy Jackson. He allows me within his domain so long as I make no moves to harm him or any under his protection."

Even though she was wearing a deep brown cloak, Percy was able to notice that the goddess before him was a truly beautiful woman. As Artemis' beauty stemmed from her stunning ferocity, this woman's beauty seemed to come from the Moon Goddess' opposite – her gentleness. Percy could feel a great, yet comforting, warmth coming from the woman which further added to the already-considerable beauty coming from the kindly woman before him. As his hand reached out and took the offered assistance, his eyes widened as he finally remembered where he'd seen the woman before.

"You were the girl," the son of the Sea God spoke in shock. "You're the girl I saw tending the fire two years ago, but you couldn't have been –" His words were interrupted as the woman then began to shrink before his very eyes until the young teen was looking at a girl whom couldn't have been any older than eight. "Right," he amended. "Goddess."

The goddess-in-child-form smiled up at him before saying, "Just as Artemis may, I am able to alter my appearance at will, young one. I have been watching you in the fire for some time, Percy Jackson – both your present and your future."

Percy's eyes shot open so wide that they could've passed for green dinner plates as he went rigid from shock once he realized who he was actually speaking with. "You're – You're – You're…" he continued to try, but his mind had gone offline for a few moments as it rebooted.

The small girl nodded in confirmation before she grew back into the young-adult form she'd been in when he woke up earlier and told him, "Yes. I am Hestia: Goddess of the Hearth and Home, First and Last of Kronos and Rhea's children, and the Keeper of the Olympian Flame, the goddess who –"

"Who gave up her seat on the Council for Mr. D in order to prevent a war," Percy finished for her with audible respect in his voice after recovering from the initial shock of finding out whom he was with. "It is an honor to officially meet you, Lady Hestia," he finished with a respectful bow.

The woman merely gave him a warm smile as she said to him, impressment in her voice, "It would seem you know our legends fairly well, Percy Jackson. Not many remember my name, and even fewer recall why I am no longer seated on the Council."

"It is hard to forget once taught," the demigod responded formally. "Of all the Olympus Gods, none have made a sacrifice as large as yours, Lady Hestia. Your tale reminds me that humility is truly a virtue."

"I am glad you believe so," Hestia answered him with her eyes brightening a bit under the sea. "But the time for formalities is long past," she told him with a dismissive swipe of her hand. "If you don't mind, you don't need to be so formal and respectful with me, my nephew. I am not on the Council, so I don't command the same respect."

"Whether you command it or not is not why I am so," the green-eyed young man responded. "I am respectful because you _deserve_ it, milady."

The Goddess of the Hearth gave him a gentle smile at hearing his words. "Be that as it may, I would like it if we could speak as family should, wouldn't you?"

"It would be nice," he answered her with a grin.

"Then come and sit, nephew," she said to him as she sat down on an underwater stone that was relatively flat and large enough to seat two and patted a spot next to her. "There is much to discuss and very little time to do so."

"Of course, Aunt Hestia," Percy attempted a more familial title, cautious of her reaction. However, the goddess' mood seemed to brighten even further at hearing the closer name. Sensing no hostility from the goddess, he walked over and nervously sat next to her.

"I shall be straight to the point, Percy," Hestia began evenly. "My fires grow restless."

"What does that mean?" he asked curiously.

"Let me show you instead," the goddess said to him. She then held out her hand and opened her palm upwards. A small flame appeared in her hand, still warm and flickering with life even though they were still underwater. "Poseidon minds not," she assured him as he looked at her curiously. "What matters is what I will show you.

"Look into my flame," she requested, "and tell me what you see."

The green-eyed teenager leaned over and squinted at the flame dancing in the goddess' hand. Images flashed in front of him at speeds that prevented him from recognizing what was going on at all. He thought that he saw an image with him, Annabeth, Thalia, and Zoë – of all people – standing before the Olympian Council, but the image disappeared before he could realize what it was about.

"I'm afraid I can't really make anything out at all," he reported after a few moments once he leaned back into his seat. "Everything was moving too fast for me to really see anything. Was I supposed to see something?"

"It is as I feared then," Hestia sighed sadly. She then brought the flame upwards, level with her nose and she stared directly into her orange flame. "It would seem that the future has somehow been altered, Percy, and it occurred fairly recently."

"You mean," he asked in shock, "you can see the future?"

A grim nod was his answer, but she spoke before he could, "No, I can't tell you your fate, Percy. And at the moment, even if I so-desired to know it, my flames are unable to create a clear picture for me." She then closed her hand, extinguishing the small flame and closed her eyes as she let out a deep breath.

"Aunt Hestia," he called to her after she'd remained silent for a few moments. "Is something really wrong?"

"If only I knew," she answered him vaguely as she opened her eyes, now glowing as they had been earlier. "Time is a complicated entity, Percy," she explained. "It is like a river: it has a set beginning and end, and nothing is capable of altering its course. I truly hope that what is occurring is only an anomaly caused by my father's close proximity to returning, but if it's not, then things may be even worse than the Oracle foretold."

"What's wrong then?"

"It is as I said, Percy," Hestia told him. "I have witnessed altered destinies before, but they usually resulted in the affected party's death." Percy paled as she said that, but she continued on before he could say anything. "However, that doesn't mean that the future that has been foretold won't come to pass. This could mean that the _way_ the prophecy will come true has been altered."

"Which one?" Percy couldn't help but ask. He only knew about two active ones, but he only knew the wording of the one that the mummified Oracle in the attic of the Big House had delivered the other day.

"All of them," the goddess answered with a grim nod. "At least the ones you should be involved in, whether directly or indirectly. This is no small feat, Percy," she reminded him. "Time and Fate are only really understood by the Fates, so perhaps they will answer my questions."

Percy was beginning to feel completely lost on what the goddess sitting next to him was saying. First he changed his fate, then he didn't? However, the picture of a river suddenly gave the young demigod an idea, and he felt like he desperately needed to ask it.

"Aunt Hestia," he asked seriously. "You said that Time was like a river, right?" At her unsure nod, he continued, "If that's the case, then isn't it possible to actually change the course of time like you alter a river's? All you would need to do it is a dam to keep it from passing a certain way, right?"

A look of comprehension and realization dawned on the goddess' face at his suggestion. "Of course," she whispered in a low voice. "Now I understand what my fires are seeing."

"What?" Percy blinked in confusion. "I don't get how that answered your problem."

"The problem wasn't my fires," Hestia answered him. "But now I understand what I was being shown, Percy. And for that, I must thank you." She then leaned over and gave him a small kiss on his forehead, causing him to go stiff.

"What-What-What did I do?" he queried in shock after being kissed by a _goddess._

"You gave me the answer that I had been seeking," his aunt informed him. "Even if you don't comprehend it, you still gave me the answer to my dilemma. To show my gratitude, I will offer you a single question: Ask me any question and I shall answer it honestly, I swear it upon the Styx."

Thunder boomed above the sea but its echoes reached underneath the waves and made it to the pair of goddess and demigod sitting on the seafloor.

"Who was that in my dream?" Percy blurted out before he could think on what he might wish to know. "The one that Luke bowed to."

Hestia frowned at his question, apparently displeased by his choice. "It is regrettable that you ask a question which you already possess the answer to, but a bargain is a bargain. I shall tell you then.

"The man who has captured Artemis is a Titan, as you have already guessed. What you haven't figured out yet is that the Titan in your dream is the one who was punished by Zeus to hold up the sky for all of eternity for leading our father's armies in the battle between we Gods and the Titans." Percy's green eyes widened in terror as he realized the Titan's identity before he could be told. "Yes, Percy. He is Kronos' mightiest warrior and greatest general: Atlas."

"Oh…shit," the fourteen-year-old demigod said as his brain continued to repeat what he'd just been told over and over and over. "So…he's the one who beat Artemis?"

"Yes, unfortunately," the goddess answered with a sad sigh. "He is not an opponent you can hope to defeat as you are now."

"I kinda figured that," Percy told her flatly. "I mean, he's strong enough to hold up the weight of the entire _sky_ for how long now?"

"Over three-thousand years," Hestia answered his rhetorical. "And he is nearly as powerful as he used to be."

"How… How in Hades are we supposed to save Lady Artemis," he pleaded. "I mean, none of us are strong enough to beat somebody like that. We'll be slaughtered!"

"You underestimate the strength of your eventual companions," the orange-eyed woman said to him with a motherly smile. "True, none of mortal blood are mighty enough to permanently vanquish him, but victory can be won in other ways, Percy. Don't forget that."

"Oh, crap," the demigod's sea-green eyes widened in alarm as he thought about how the group for the quest was planning on leaving at dawn. "How long have I been down here?"

"It is twenty minutes before they depart to search for my niece," Hestia informed him. "You have only been here for near an hour now."

"I'm sorry, Aunt Hestia," he apologized as he stood up in a hurry. "I've got to go. I'll never be able to find them if they leave before I get back to camp."

"It is of no consequence," the immortal woman waved off his apology for leaving. "I have been away from Olympus for too long, as well. Had you not realized the time, I was planning on sending you back to Camp Half-Blood before Zoë and the other three left."

"Three?" Percy repeated. "But there's supposed to be four others, aren't there?"

"Oh dear," she spoke in false worry. "It seems I've said too much. You'll find out once you return to camp."

"I guess that's it then." Percy frowned as he said his farewell to the goddess. "It has been great, Aunt Hestia, but I have to get back up so that Blackjack can take me back to camp."

"You need not worry on that," the woman assured him. "Your Pegasus friend is currently waiting for you to return to Camp, as I have already sent him to the stables so that he may rest and eat for the flight the two of you will soon share. I will send you back to your father's cabin before I take my leave. It is much faster than the method you wish to use."

"Will it hurt?"

The kindly woman giggled into her hand before saying to him, amusement dancing in her eyes, "It won't nephew. I am the Goddess of the Hearth and Home, remember? As such, I possess the ability to send you to your personal hearth. However, since you have two, I will need to concentrate a bit, so please hold still."

"Huh?" he asked, stumped at her meaning.

The young demigod then felt a warm sensation envelop his entire body. He looked down and realized that his whole being was emitting a faint orange glow – Percy realized that it was the same color as Hestia's eyes. He looked at his feet and let out a small squeak in shock as he saw a flame appear at the base of his shoes and begin to slowly grow as it crept up his legs.

"Relax," Hestia's soft voice said to him soothingly. He looked up and noticed that her eyes were glowing again as she made use of her godly powers. "The flame shall not burn, it shall heat. So long as you make no sudden moves, you will find yourself back in Poseidon's cabin as soon as my fire completely covers you."

"Moo!" came a worried howl from above them.

Percy's eyes widened as he looked upwards and noticed the sea-cow-slash-serpent was looking at the flames that now reached up to his hips. "Bessie!" he yelled.

"Moo!" the cow responded sadly.

"I'd forgotten about you," the goddess said with a small frown. "You are dangerous, but I will trust Percy in preventing your sacrifice."

"Wait!" Percy called as he felt the flames flicker over his chest. "Do you know just what Bessie is, Aunt Hestia?"

"I do," she frowned at the creature. "There isn't time enough to fully explain to you just what this creature is or how dangerous it is. Zeus would seek to destroy it immediately, but I find it difficult to believe that Poseidon hasn't felt its presence in his domain. It is most likely that your father trusts you to make the correct choice, Percy."

"What choice!?" he demanded as fire danced over his eyes.

"Will you destroy Olympus," the Olympian Goddess murmured in answer as the flames completely enveloped the young demigod and teleported him away, back to Camp Half-Blood.

"Moo!" the sea-cow mournfully wailed as it hurriedly swam over to the spot that its rescuer had just been in, seeking any sign as to his presence.

Hestia let out a sigh as she shrunk back down into her child-like form. "You listened to all of that, didn't you, Poseidon?"

"Indeed I did," the God of the Sea answered her as he shimmered into reality to her right. "I am worried for him, sister. I am positive that he is the child which the Great Prophecy foretold, but Zeus is still skeptical of it so long as his daughter remains under sixteen physically."

"I agree with you," the goddess told him. "And my flames are the proof of that. Do you think that he's ready to hear the entire Prophecy yet?"

The trident-wielding man frowned at her question. "I am positive that he will be able to handle it after this quest, should he remember my advice."

"The bit about 'the Sea never forgets her children?'"

"Yes."

"Tell me," Hestia probed her younger brother. "Is that the reason you placed _her_ in the bay?"

"Actually, no," he answered her truthfully. The bearded god grew a sly smile as he continued, "But this is a stroke of luck that _she_ is the one he will be traveling with. I have long felt sorry for her. She was forced to lose something because she fell in love with the wrong man, and I hope that my son may prove to her that not all men are like him."

"It will be difficult," the young goddess reminded him. "I'm fairly certain that she is certain of her own death, Poseidon. You know what the new Prophecy states."

"I do," he nodded with a grim frown. "However, _her_ being in the bay will be able to fulfill the prophecy while –"

"I get it," Hestia said to him. She let out a small sigh before a small smile graced her face. "Who would have thought that one small piece of advice had the power to change Fate, Poseidon?"

"You know," he chuckled. "Sally once told Percy the same thing."

"So you have been keeping an eye over them all this time."

"My dear sister," Poseidon said with a faraway look on his face. "Your vow of chastity is an admirable one, but it prevents you from feeling the joy of having children. You will never get to watch your son or daughter take their first steps, speak their first words, discover who they are, fall in love, feel their first heartbreak, or fulfill their life as well as they can. Just because they never saw me didn't mean that I wasn't there."

"Why would I need children" Hestia joked, "when I'm surrounded by them at every Council meeting?"

The God of the Sea grinned at his sister. "True. We are not the shining examples of maturity which we should be. But where's the fun in growing up? And who are you to call me a child when you're always looking like one!?"

Hestia looked at her sibling with mirth dancing in her eyes before disappearing in a burst of flames.

Poseidon watched his sister disappear from his domain with a small smile. However, it quickly turned into a frown as he glanced over to where the creature his son had saved was.

"Hestia was correct, I have felt you since you first appeared," the God said to the creature. "You are too dangerous to be left alone for long, but I will trust my son to make the correct choices when his time comes. For now, you are safe from Olympus."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Percy's sea-green eyes blinked once his immortal aunt's flames had covered him and he then found himself standing within his father's cabin, back in Camp Half-Blood. He looked around and saw that he was standing next to the saltwater basin his father had gifted to his cabin while he'd been back home with his mother after camp last summer.

"Damn it!" the son of Poseidon cursed as he punched his cabin's remarkably sturdy walls. "She was right! I had all the pieces to figure out that it was Atlas in my dream! It did everything short of saying it outright! Why do I have to be such an impulsive idiot!?"

The black-haired teen pulled his hand back and inspected his knuckles. He grimaced as he saw that each of the fingers on his right hand were now covered in purple-and-black splotches. The son of Poseidon then dipped his newly-bruised hand into the saltwater basin and watched as water traveled up his fingers and then began to heal his bruises as a cool, comforting feeling enveloped his hand.

Percy pulled his hand out of the small pool of water after a moment and then looked at his fingers once more. "Good as new," he couldn't help but grin as he flexed his now-healed hand. His lips turned downwards into a thin frown as he thought out loud, "Why did I have to waste such an opportunity? I could've finally been able to know what that cursed prophecy says, I could've asked for some more advice on my powers, or I could've asked what Bessie really is. I really am an idiot," Percy shook his head as he berated himself.

The young son of Poseidon then walked over to his bedside nightstand and peered out of the window. He noticed that the camp's fire was still burning as bright as ever, but a small figure hiding behind a pillar at the corner of his sight caught his attention.

His green eyes narrowed in focus so that he could figure out just who the small person really was. "Is that…Nico?" he asked himself. The black-haired teenager then turned away from the window and said to nobody in particular, "One way to find out, I guess."

The son of Poseidon then reached down and grabbed his friend's Yankees cap that he had placed on his nightstand before his talk with his father. He placed it on top of his head and immediately felt a small layer of potent magic cover his entire body.

_Weird,_ Percy noted as he looked down and saw that he couldn't see his body anymore. _Last time I used the hat, I didn't feel any magic at all. I wonder what's different._ The young demigod shook his head. _I can think about it later. I need to get a move on so that I can keep track of Thalia and Grover when they leave._

The black-haired teen quickly walked across the cabin and felt his pockets for everything he thought he might need during his journey. Finding Riptide, his wallet, and a small pouch of drachmas in his jeans' pockets, he nodded to himself in satisfaction before silently creeping his cabin's door open.

The invisible demigod poked his head out of the now-open door and looked to his left and right, searching for anybody who might notice him disappearing. Noticing none, Percy quietly pushed the door open the rest of the way, silently walked out of his father's cabin, and slid his front door shut without making a sound.

Remembering where he'd noticed him, and admittedly curious as to Nico's reasons for stalking about the camp before anyone was supposed to be awake, the teen crept over towards the pillar he'd seen Nico hiding behind earlier. As he got closer, Percy noticed that the young member of the Hermes cabin was staring intently in the direction of the fire – or to be more precise, at the two Hunters who were conversing by the flame.

The son of Poseidon wasn't able to hear much of whatever it was which Zoë and Bianca were discussing, but he did manage to overhear that the third Huntress who was supposed to be accompanying them – Phoebe, if he remembered right – had suddenly become very ill after wearing the shirt that the Stoll brothers had gifted her with. Percy had to suppress a frown at hearing that, as every camper knew to never accept anything from the de facto Hermes Cabin leaders since Luke left without thoroughly inspecting it first.

_Poor girl,_ he thought about the sickly Huntress. _But she _did_ kind of deserve it after what she did to the two of 'em. It's a sure-fire ticket for retribution ten times worse if you try and prank _anyone _from the Hermes Cabin, and those two are the best at it._

"Bianca," the small boy in front of him said in a worried whisper, shaking Percy from his musing and reminding him of why he was here in the first place. He then tapped the undeclared half-blood child's shoulder, making poor Nico nearly jump out of his skin. "Yip –" his scream of surprise was cut off by Percy covering the child's mouth with his invisible hand.

"It's me, Nico," Percy whispered as he dragged him behind a different pillar in order to prevent the now-curious Zoë from finding them.

"P-Percy?" Nico asked nervously.

"Yep," he confirmed for him as he reached up and took off the navy-blue invisibility cap and revealed himself.

Nico's onyx eyes both widened in amazement and Percy could swear that he saw stars appear in those black orbs. "Cool!" the young boy breathed out in wonder. "How'd you do that, Percy? Turning Invisible is a boost of four-hundred to attack power and an immediate quadruple bonus to critical chance due to an increase in stealth!"

"Uh…okay," the green-eyed teen replied, unsure of what to say in response to that. "Nico," his eyes turned hard, "what are you doing up and out of bed so early? You should be glad _I'm _the one who found you instead of the harpies, or – even worse – Mr. D! You know what the harpies do, don't you?"

Nico's already pale face went even paler before he looked down at the ground in shame and began to shift uncomfortably. "Yeah," he murmured. "I know. All my cabin-mates make sure I know that every day. But," he said as his face rose up and he looked up at the older demigod, "I overheard my sis and that _Huntress_ talking as they walked by the Hermes cabin earlier and I was wondering what they were saying."

Percy blinked, stunned at hearing the usually-happy child in front of him speaking with such bitterness towards Zoë. _He must blame them for taking away his sister,_ he thought sadly. _Bad enough he's not really wrong._ "Then what were you doing up this early?" he demanded in a harsh whisper. "You should be asleep!"

The younger demigod winced at hearing Percy's unintentionally harsh words. "I…don't really sleep well at camp," Nico admitted hesitantly. "That's why I was up and overheard Bianca and _her_ talking."

The black-haired teen's green eyes softened at hearing Nico's admission. The boor boy wasn't even twelve yet and he was already having terrible visions in his dreams. "Listen Nico," Percy called to him softly as he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders and kneeled down so that he was on eye-level with the younger demigod child. "You're not alone in your dreams. I know that some of them are a little harsher than others, but I promise you'll get used to 'em. Once you get accustomed to being a demigod, then they'll stop happening every night. Trust me on this; I went through the same thing when I first found out who and what I was."

"Yeah," Nico conceded. "But at least your dad actually claimed you."

Percy didn't know where this dreary Nico was coming from, but he decided to get away from it by quickly changing the subject. "What did you hear Zoë and Bianca saying, Nico?"

"It was something about them both dreaming about Artemis," the black-eyed boy answered him. "I think that they said that they both saw her holding up something really big, and then that Huntress said something about how they had to hurry up and find her."

Percy nodded at him. "That's true. I had a similar dream earlier as well," he revealed. _Only mine was a little bit more detailed,_ he silently added as he recalled those piercing silver eyes staring directly at him, as if they were peering straight into his soul. The green-eyed demigod had to suppress a shudder at remembering those eyes glow in absolute rage at Atlas.

"They also said that they were leaving immediately," Nico added, causing Percy to freeze.

_But dawn's still –_ he thought, but those thoughts were pushed to the wayside as he saw orange begin to peek into the skyline in the east. _Crap. I need to get moving._ "Look," Percy spoke directly to Nico. "I want you to go back to your cabin and stay there until you're supposed to get up. You're not going," he instructed sternly as Nico made to protest. "I can't let you follow them, Nico."

The younger demigod's pitch-black eyes fell to the ground before he asked, "How did you know that?"

"Because I'd want to do the same thing in your shoes," the teen told him. "I'd want to go with my sister in order to keep her safe, but I can't in good conscience let you go, Nico."

"Because I'm too young," the child mumbled bitterly.

"Part of it," Percy informed him. "At the moment, you'd get eaten up, Nico. You remember how scary the manticore was?" he asked, and Nico nodded furiously in response. "There's going to be plenty of other monsters on this quest, and a few of them will probably be even scarier than the manticore was." _I can guarantee that at least _one_ will be,_ he thought as he remembered what Hestia had told him of.

Nico's face fell as he heard Percy's reasoning. No matter how much the young brother may wish to, he couldn't refute what the son of Poseidon had just told him. The simple face of the matter was that the young child wasn't much help when it would come to fighting.

"I'm really sorry, Nico," the green-eyed youth told him, "but it's the truth. I can't allow you to run off and get killed because you're just not ready yet."

"But you are," the coal-eyed boy pointed out as he raised his head. "You're strong, Percy. Everyone in the Hermes cabin says you're the best swordsman the camp has ever seen."

"I am good," he admitted carefully. "But I'm far from being as great as you say."

"You can protect Bianca for me!" Nico declared. "You can make sure she stay's safe!"

"Look, Nico," he tried to dissuade the boy. "I don't think that they'd take it really well if I were to be around. Boys aren't really liked by the Hunters. "

"Then don't be seen," Nico stated in answer as if it really were that simple. "You can go invisible, right? So they don't have to know you're there and you can still keep Bianca safe for me!"

"I'm not supposed to –"

"You're planning on going anyway, right?" the undeclared demigod asked shrewdly, as if he already knew the answer.

Percy let out a resigned sigh. This kid was more intelligent than he ever let on. "Yes," he answered. "Whether they want me or not, I can't just abandon Annabeth like they want me to."

"Then all you need to do is follow them and they'll lead you right to her," the younger demigod cunningly pointed out. "So will you promise me that you'll make sure Bianca comes back?"

The child of the Sea God grimaced at Nico's request. "That's a big promise," he told the excited boy. "And I can't guarantee that –"

Please," the younger demigod begged him with wide eyes.

Percy hesitated before finally offering the boy close to becoming distraught, "I'll do my best. I can promise you that."

"Great!" Nico chirped. "Now, you need to hurry, or else they'll leave you behind."

"Crap," he realized as he heard one of the camp's van's engines start. "Go back to the Hermes cabin," he sternly instructed the child before turning and sprinting towards the top of Half-Blood Hill.

As he reached the crown of the hill which allowed a complete view of the entire valley where Camp Half-Blood was situated in, Percy noticed a black, horse-shaped figure was already atop the mound and was waiting for him.

_Hey there, boss!_ Blackjack chirped at him, causing him to slightly smile once he had reached the top of the hill. _Really-nice-fire-lady told me that I should wait for you here after I ate._

"Blackjack," Percy greeted his friend and trusted steed gratefully. "You have no idea how grateful I am to see you. Did you see which way they went?"

_That-a-way,_ the black Pegasus said as he pointed his muzzle down the road.

Percy looked in the direction Blackjack was currently indicating and he noticed a single, white van traveling south on the road. "You ready?" he asked.

The Pegasus neighed indignantly at the question as if it were an accusation. _Am I ready? Am I ready!? I'm always up for a good, long flight, boss. Distance don't matter, I'll get you there faster than you can even blink!_

"I know that," he answered in order to stroke the horse's ego a bit. He then climbed up and onto Blackjack's back and settled himself in before exclaiming at the top of his voice, "Let's go, Blackjack!"

_On it, boss!_ the Pegasus responded as he reared up and extended his wings. The steed then slammed his front hooves down onto the hilltop and quickly reached top speed before taking off into the sky.

"Don't be seen," the son of Poseidon instructed his partner as they began to ascend. "Keep in the clouds, but stay close enough to keep track of the van."

_Got it, boss!_ Blackjack acknowledged before he veered them both upwards and leveled out in the bottommost layer of the clouds. _You know, if you want to get some sleep, boss, I can handle flying for a bit._

"I'd never do that to you," Percy informed his friend before his body betrayed him with a large yawn. "I'm not even really that tired," he sleepily tried to deny as he wiped his eyes with his hand.

_You didn't get any sleep last night, boss,_ Blackjack pointed out to him. _Even I can tell that from here. Get some rest, I get the feeling you're gonna need it later. I can keep us hidden and follow the van for now, boss._

"You're probably right," Percy grumbled about how he'd most likely need to catch some rest for later. "Will you make sure I don't fall off?" He then felt the horse's midsection rumble beneath him and realized that Blackjack was actually _laughing_.

_Even if I wanted to, _the Pegasus told him, _I could never lose you unless you wanted to fall off, boss. I guess it's because of who your dad is, but it's impossible for you to fall off. Trust me; I've tried to lose you a couple of times._

"You've what!?"

_Why do you think I flew at top speed so often?_ Blackjack asked as he flapped his wings at a leisurely pace and allowed the wind to merely let him glide in the clouds. _I really wanted to see if you're as much a natural as I felt you were, and it turns out I was right._ As a demonstration of his point, the black Pegasus spun his body in the air in a slow barrel-roll without alerting his rider.

Percy let out a surprised yelp as he watched the world begin to spin around until the ground and sky had switched places and then returned to their normal places. He'd been completely unprepared for the sudden aerial maneuver, so the demigod had been absolutely certain that he would fall off of his steed and toward the ground. However, his body had instinctively reacted to the Pegasus' movements without him having to think on it, preventing his plummet from the sky and to his rather messy death.

_See?_ Blackjack asked him snootily. _You're the truest natural rider in like, ever, boss. You don't need to think, you just react._

"I guess you're right," Percy agreed while still in shock at surviving. He then let out another huge yawn as his eyes began to grow heavy again. "If that's the case, then I'm gonna take you up on that offer, Blackjack. Wake me up when they stop somewhere or you start feeling tired. And I mean that," he reiterated to the Pegasus sternly. "If you start feeling strained, you wake me up and let me know, got it?"

_Yeah, I got it, boss,_ the Pegasus snorted. _Now catch some 'Z's. I'll handle flying._

"Alright," the demigod sleepily agreed. He then leaned forward and pressed his cheek against his trusty steed's muscular neck and closed his eyes.

His back would kill him when he woke up later, but Percy was too exhausted to really care.

* * *

Thalia Grace was feeling a tad bit miffed, and it had all started around the time when Grover had contacted them about two weeks back now.

She and Annabeth had been having a rather serious spat when Chiron's Iris Message had appeared – luckily he hasn't mentioned what he saw to anyone. Annabeth had been spouting some crazy nonsense about how she was considering joining the Hunt, and Thalia did _not_ take it well. They'd literally divided their shared dorm in half with duct tape in order to not talk to one another.

The lieutenant of Artemis' followers had attempted to recruit Thalia about eight or nine years ago, and the daughter of Zeus had been rather adamant in her refusal. But the goddess' little prim, tiara-wearing _princess_ refused to take a hint and had resorted to spouting out insults at her for actually caring about a boy and refusing to just leave him to die. Zoë had repeatedly told her that all boys are the same, and that 'he'll betray you in the end.'

The really tough part now was that Luke _had_ ended up betraying her; even if she'd been absent for seven years due to her dad making her into a tree, Luke should have _known_ that Thalia never wanted to destroy Olympus. Change a few things, yes, but Thalia had _never_ wished to just flat-out destroy it because she didn't like how a few things were being done.

Waking up from being a tree for the better part of a decade, and then finding out that one of the only two people in the world still alive that she really cared about at all had betrayed them all was _not_ what Thalia had expected when she'd ordered Grover to take Luke and Annabeth and leave her. Oh, and let's not forget that aforementioned blonde _idiot_ had poisoned her tree and attempted to kill her.

However, the son of Hermes' poisoning of her tree was the very reason for the quest to obtain the Golden Fleece last summer. It was the efforts of Clarisse, Annabeth, Percy, and that Cyclops she hadn't been able to meet yet – Tyson was his name, if she recalled correctly – which gave her a second shot at life. So, if she looked at the entire situation, then Luke trying to kill her while still in tree-form is the reason she'd been able to get another shot at life – no matter how much it sucked.

A blessing in disguise.

Maybe… Maybe that was his way of showing affection?

Irony made Thalia's head hurt.

The daughter of Zeus had spoken with Percy about everything Luke had done since she'd been 'asleep' as a pine tree, and she'd nearly gone red with anger when he'd told her everything that the traitor had done.

Luke had gone to Kronos, _Kronos _– for Zeus' sake – and had willingly become his servant for all time in an agreement to tear Olympus down 'brick by brick.' He'd stolen her father's Master Bolt and had framed Percy for his crime – even if it was indirect, he still did it. He'd come a few minutes shy of causing total anarchy and war between her father and godly uncles as well as all the other gods and demigods. And that was all in one year! There was no telling how many other seedy deeds the pale blonde had done before then while she was away.

However, as much as Thalia's righteous anger grew, so too did her regret and affections since she still saw Luke and Annabeth as her family. Even though she knew how cruel he'd become – Percy had been rather adamant on that part – the daughter of Zeus still remembered how caring Luke had been while they had traveled together.

It was Luke's skill at thievery which kept them all fed. It was Luke's sarcastic sense of humor which had kept them all laughing. It was Luke who'd noticed Annabeth and convinced her to let her join the family. It was Luke's cunning and sharp wits that got them out of that cursed mansion and gave her Aegis' bracelet.

The dark-haired demigod absently stroked the silver bracelet she always wore as she remembered that harrowing experience with Hal and the Leucrotae. She'd only been 'back' for around six months now, but her nightly nightmares of that time continued the very instant she'd woken back up.

_I wonder if Luke still has Hal's diary?_ Thalia wondered absently as she did her very best to ignore the twelve-year-old sitting in the driver's seat next to her.

The daughter of Zeus and the merry little band around her had been caught in absolutely _dreadful_ holiday traffic for around an hour-and-a-half now, which was the reason for her muses at the moment.

"I think we've moved a whole _mile_ in the last hour," Thalia grumbled.

"'Tis not my fault!" Zoë snapped at her

"Who said it was!" the demigod shot back. "And nobody says 'Tis' anymore!"

"N-N-Now come on, guys," Grover timidly spoke up from the back seat. "You've been at it ever since we left. Can't-Can't we all just get along?" he tried to act as the mediator between the two in the front seats.

Poor Satyr.

"Grover's right," Bianca piped up. "We haven't even been on the road for two hours yet, and the only time you two aren't fighting is when you're quiet."

"It's _her _fault!" both of the involved females shouted as they both comically pointed at one another accusingly. "She started it!"

"Oh, so now it's _my_ fault you're a pretentious brat!"

"I am over one-hundred times your senior!"

"Okay," Thalia smirked. "So it looks like I'm traveling with a living fossil aren't I? Tell me, how were the _dinosaurs_?"

"I am immortal!" Zoë protested. "As all Hunters are! And as you should've been!"

Thalia's electric-blue eyes flashed with pure rage. She clenched her fists so tightly that it hurt as she told the so-called 'immortal' through clenched teeth, "And my answer will forever stay the same, you zealot!"

"You would choose someone who has betrayed all you care for!?"

Electrical sparks danced over the daughter of Zeus' fingers and let out a frightening popping sound as they began to travel all over her body as a mixture of hatred and sadness permeated over her at the harsh reminder of Luke's actions. Her eyes burned with complete hatred and she felt her heart heave in her chest.

A worried and frightened goat's bleat came from the backseat and caused Thalia to freeze. She then did what Percy had told her that he did every time he was away from Camp, got pissed enough he couldn't see straight, and needed to calm back down before he did something _really_ stupid: She closed her eyes tightly, took in a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose, and began to count to ten in Greek.

As she reached Zeta, Thalia felt her rage finally begin to subside and she let out one last deep breath before flashing the satyr an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, Goat Boy," she said to him.

"I was worried you were gonna blow us up there for a second," the skittish half-man, half-goat told her as he let out a relieved bleat.

The two followers of the Goddess of the Hunt both had completely different reactions to her little spark show. The eternal pre-pubescent in the driver's seat was completely unfazed by the display as she calmly flicked the van's blinker on before merging the vehicle over into the lane on their right. Bianca, however, was staring at the daughter of Zeus with her onyx eyes wide in a mixture of terror and awe.

"What?" Thalia demanded of the newest addition to the 'man-haters club' harsher than she'd really meant to.

"You're…You're a child of Z–" the young Huntress began before being interrupted.

"Don't say the name!" Grover piped up fearfully. His frantic eyes darted around, looking for a sign that a lightning bolt would descend from the sky and strike them all dead.

"Relax, Goat Boy," the daughter of Zeus told him with a small, friendly smile on her face. "Dad won't kill us for just saying his name."

Thunder rumbled in the sky above them.

"Okay!" Thalia shouted out the window. "Sorry about that," she said to the now-stunned residents of the van's backseat. "While he won't kill us, it looks like he'd rather not be distracted by us calling his name and him having to divert his attention from whatever it is that he's watching at the moment."

"You understood thunder?" Grover asked with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Meh," the spiky-haired demigod shrugged. "It's not really that hard when you're me. It was either that or something about how he'd found another hot mortal to get with."

Grover and Bianca both paled simultaneously at the same moment thunder rumbled in the sky above them so loud that it nearly made them go deaf for a moment. A single lightning bolt crashed down from the heavens and struck the lightning rod on top of a building to their right, causing the satyr to start gnawing on Thalia's headrest nervously and the newest Huntress to hug herself and start shivering.

"It was a joke!" Thalia yelled to the sky as she stuck her head out of the van's window. "Jeez," she mumbled as she retreated back into the vehicle. "I knew he was tight-assed, but this is ridiculous." Another rumble of thunder. "I get it!"

The sky then quieted back down as Thalia grumbled about dads that don't have a sense of humor taking the fun out of life. She then went to roll her window back up, but not before seeing a brief flash of pure black in the sky above a building to their right. Her electric-blue eyes narrowed in suspicion as she stopped her window and peered into the stormy-grey clouds in the sky above them once more.

_These clouds aren't true, black storm clouds,_ Thalia thought with a small frown. _So there shouldn't be _any _black in the sky at all right now with the sun out. Why do I get the feeling that we're being followed?_

"Blah-ha-ha!" Grover nervously bleated as his teeth closed over a small spike of her jet-black hair.

"Yeowch!" she screamed as the skittish satyr accidently bit off a small bit of her hair and swallowed it. "Damn it, Grover!" she scolded him as she whirled around in her seat. "Do you have any idea how much hair gel you just ate!?"

"I knew it!" Zoë smirked at her. "It is an impossibility for hair to stand in such a fashion unaided."

"Learn English before you try to insult someone!" Thalia screamed back.

"I do speak English, you uncultured swine!"

"This isn't _Jane Eyre_!"

"Who?"

"Doesn't matter! All that does is that you talk like it!"

"Hah! That should've been, 'that you talk like her!' Even you speak incorrectly!" Zoë exclaimed victoriously.

"Actually I don't!" Thalia shot back. "_Jane Eyre'_s a book!"

"Curses!"

Grover and Bianca both shared a glance at witnessing the two of them go at it again like clockwork, firing off insults and comebacks like two machine guns.

"Wanna play another round of Mythomagic?" the younger Huntress asked as she began to ignore the rapid-fire between her superior as a Huntress and the daughter of Zeus.

"Why not?" Grover shrugged in response. "But before we do…" he trailed off, eyeing Thalia's already half-eaten headrest hungrily. "I've just gotta get me one more bite of that. I don't care what anyone says, car seats are one of the most delectable delicacies a satyr can enjoy, and Thalia's hair gel adds even more flavor."

"Whatever floats your boat, Goat Man," Bianca said to him as he licked his lips. She then pulled out the two decks of cars that her brother had given to her as a last gift when she'd told him about joining the Hunters before beginning to set out the game once more.

She did her very best to ignore the steadily-rising volume of the two bickering in the van's front seats.

* * *

**Very First True A/N of the Story: **Well, it's taken a few chapters, but I never really had much to talk about to all of you readers just yet. Now, I guess I can begin to tell you all about it.

You see, this story came to me immediately after I finished reading _The Titan's Curse_, which left me extraordinarily displeased in the end. Actually, the entire series left me dissatisfied by how it ended in _The Last Olympian_, but that doesn't really matter much right now. Now, that doesn't mean that the books weren't an enjoyable read, but the way the Prophecy was fulfilled really irked me, so after a little thinking I came up with this little child of mine.

My little sister had been harping on my case to read these books for months, and I finally got a week to myself where I could take time and finished them all. She is the first person I approached with this idea, and she seemed to enjoy the prospect, so I guess I'm really writing this one for her instead of me, like my three others. Who knows, maybe I'll actually be able to finish this one within a year or two.

Right now, it's only planned to approach fifty-sixty chapters, and this is all pre-Heroes of Olympus. If I ever decide to do a continuation of this story with the HoO plot-lines, then it'll end up being an entirely separate fic in it's own right. Hey! I just realized that it'd be counted as a sequel!

The main focus of the story will be Percy and his exploits, but there will be moments like in this chapter where I delve into the minds of other characters in order to show both you readers and myself how a character thinks, acts, and begins to change with all of the changes that will be occurring in this story from the original plot-line. So, if you all don't mind, please let me know what you think of how I portray each person I do a passage of whom isn't a son of Poseidon.

Expectation from the story are high, as I always am with each of my children, but if it peters out and never really takes off I won't be too miffed about it... Okay, I lied. I will be rather pissed. I am a perfectionist in truest form, and I refuse to accept anything short of the best from myself and all of my stories, which might explain why I take so long on each of my chapters.

Well, shameless plug time: If you haven't read any of my other fics, please give them a quick skim. Each of them are equally important to me, and it would be a wonderful holiday gift for each of my readers to grant them a review or two.

See you all later. I guess it's back to old grind for me.

Later all


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

_Not again,_ Percy inwardly groaned as he quickly realized the feeling of yet another dream-vision envelop him once he fell asleep. _This makes two in as many hours!_

He opened his sea-green eyes and noticed that this vision's setting was in one of the most beautiful gardens he'd likely ever see. Trees, shrubs, brushes, and flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors surrounded him on all sides. The young demigod saw every kind of plant possible, and it seemed that the climate didn't matter at all, as there were palm trees and evergreens both within his field of vision laid about in random areas in the garden.

_This is amazing,_ the son of Poseidon couldn't help but think in awe. _There's that rare white rose my mom said dad gave to her when they first met. Did he get it from here?_

The sound of a bush rustling to Percy's left shocked him out of his awe-inspired thoughts since it made him recall that he was in a vision at the moment. He then focused his ears so that he could pinpoint exactly where the sound had originated from.

_Two people,_ the green-eyed demigod calculated as he heard two sets of footsteps quickly approaching him; one set was light and barely made any sound at all, while the other was heavy and seemed to be the cause of most of the noise which Percy was currently hearing.

The rose bush to Percy's right rustled and from it emerged two people: A young girl with dark hair who seemed to be no older than twelve and a man with brown hair. The girl's hair was sleek and done up in a braided ponytail that went down her front over her left shoulder, with its midnight locks glittering underneath the bright moonlight. She was wearing an olden-styled Greek, silk-white dress with a golden sash around her waist. The girl had coppery-olive skin, eyes as black as volcanic rocks, and she wore a single white hairpin.

The man whom the small girl was pulling by the hand was wearing a solid purple old-Greek tunic with a slightly darker gold-colored sash around his waist and he wore a large lion's pelt over his body in a similar fashion to armor. His dark-brown hair was cut short and his sky-blue eyes shone in the night with a dangerous power and intelligence. The man wore a slightly arrogant expression on his handsome face as he continued to glance around the garden eagerly, as if he were waiting for someone or something to appear. He was very tall, easily standing over six feet and his arms were bulging with toned, large muscles.

Percy had no idea why, but he felt as if he should know who this man was. It was like the son of Poseidon was staring at a celebrity, but he had no idea from where he'd seen this obviously-famous guy before.

The girl pulled the frustratingly familiar man behind a thicket of rose bushes and hid them both from sight before she collapsed onto the ground. She was breathing heavily, as though she'd been sprinting for some time now. "We must stay hidden," the girl told the man with her voice carrying a noticeable hint of fear in it. The man sat down calmly with her as she continued, "If we don't, then he'll find us."

Percy blinked in shock at hearing the girl speak. He couldn't see her face in the night, but as much as the man _looked _familiar, this girl _sounded _even more familiar to him. The only problem was that, like with the man whose name he knew he was supposed to know, he couldn't remember just where he'd heard this girl's voice before.

"I am not afraid," the man spoke confidently, his voice a deep, strong, baritone.

"You should be!" the girl protested at the man. Her black eyes shone with concern under the moonlight while the shadows hid her face, causing Percy to freeze stiff. He recognized those eyes.

"There is no need to flee," the man informed her with more than enough confidence to spare. He gripped the lion's pelt he wore with his hand before pulling it off and showing it to the girl while stating, "I have bested over a thousand monsters with my bare hands alone, and many – like this lion – were said to be invulnerable. I hold no doubts that I may succeed."

"You've never faced a beast like this one," the girl informed him worriedly. The man grunted in dissatisfaction at her retort before slinging the pelt over his shoulders again and the girl said, "Ladon is far too mighty for a mere mortal to defeat. You must go around the Garden, up to the top of the mountain – where my father is. It cannot be done any other way. Others have tried the way you are planning to attempt, and each of them have failed."

"Those others are not I," the man pointed out. "And I do not trust your father."

"You should not," the girl agreed with him. Her volcanic-black eyes darted around fearfully, like she was trying to see if anything were watching them both. "You will need to trick him in some way, but you cannot take the apples directly yourself. You will die before you even get to the tree!"

The man chuckled in a manner that seemed to be likened to amusement and Percy quickly noticed a glint appear in his azure eyes which caused the son of Poseidon to dislike him. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"

_Don't do it!_ Percy wanted to protest, as he'd gotten a _bad_ feeling from the unnamed man's tone. _He'll only use you!_

"I… I am afraid," the girl admitted reluctantly. "Ladon would stop me if I came too close. My sisters, if they were to find out...they would disown me. They would cast me out of my home."

"Then there is nothing for it," the man said sadly before he stood up from the ground, rubbing his hands together. He rolled his neck around before turning it to the side sharply, cracking his neck. He then turned around briskly and began to walk away from the girl, never sparing her another glance.

"Wait!" the girl called to him desperately, her eyes shining with water on their edges.

The man stopped after another few paces and then turned his head until he was looking at the girl from the corner of his eye. One of his eyebrows rose in curiosity at the hesitant girl.

A pained grimace passed over the girl's face, like she was agonizing over a very harsh decision. After a few moments, her trembling hand reached up and gripped the single, white brooch she'd been wearing in her hair. She then nervously removed the brooch and said to the man, her voice wavering in the still night air, "If… If you must fight…take this. My mother, Pleione…she gave this to me.

"She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. _My_ immortal power." She then slowly brought both of her cupped hands to her mouth and breathed on the hairpin, causing it to faintly glow. The light the brooch was now giving off wasn't very bright, but it glittered in the moonlight in all the colors of the rainbow beautifully, just like it was an abalone seashell. "Take it," her voice quivered as she held out the hairpin, "and make of it a weapon for yourself."

The man laughed, but not mockingly, in semi-amusement. "A hairpin?" he asked her. "How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"

"It may not," the girl admitted softly. "But this is all I am able to offer, if you must insist on being stubborn."

The man's azure eyes softened and face turned curious at her words. He then turned back to the girl and walked over to her. The blue-eyed man reached down and took the hairpin from her hands. As the brooch left its owner's hands, it grew longer and heavier, until the hairpin had morphed into a blade which Percy recognized immediately.

The observer to the scene's sea-green eyes went wide in astonishment as the blade which Chiron had given to him two years ago, Riptide, appeared in the man's hand. The son of Poseidon looked over at the girl with shock apparent on his face as he thought, _Now I see what Chiron meant._

"Well balanced," the man complimented as he held the sword out. He twirled it in his hand before firmly gripping it and swinging it around experimentally. "Though I usually prefer to use my hands," he told the girl with a small grunt as he stabbed the air with a practiced motion. "What shall I name this blade?"

"Anaklusmos," the midnight-haired girl answered in a depressed tone. "The current which takes one unprepared, and before you are aware, you have been swept out to sea."

"A fitting name," the man nodded in appreciation. He slid the sword into his sash at his waist before turning back and saying to the girl, "I have a name for your blade, but not one for its owner. What is your name, pretty one?"

As the olive-skinned girl's eyes rose up, the shadows around her face evaporated under the moonlight, revealing her face to the observer, and all doubt of whom the girl might be disappeared from Percy's mind. "I am Zoë. Zoë Nightshade."

* * *

_-oss!_ An annoying voice called out to him. _Boss! Wake up!_

Percy let out a sleepy moan as he turned his head on his rock-hard pillow. "Wha' izzit?" he sleepily asked whoever it was disturbing his not-so-comfortable rest. Couldn't they just let him sleep?

_Wakey, wakey, boss!_ that same voice said rather loudly. _They've been stuck in one place for a while now, and I think that counts as them stopping._

"Blackjack," he sleepily drawled as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Wha' happened?"

_Oh, nothin' much,_ the black Pegasus beneath him snorted. _Just about got barbequed by a bit of lightning. You know; the usual._

That got his attention.

All drowsiness left him once his brain had fully comprehended what his friend had just informed him of. The son of Poseidon's sea-green eyes shot open and he immediately instructed his steed with a little panic present in his voice, "Get us out of the sky. Now!"

_On it, boss!_ Blackjack confirmed his new instructions before veering left and spiraling down until his hooves made a clatter as he landed atop a building. The Pegasus trotted until he was able to stop since their speedy retreat from Percy's uncle's domain prevented him from slowing his descent down at all.

After Blackjack came to a complete stop, Percy quickly swung his left leg over his steed and dismounted. As his feet came onto the concrete of the current building's roof, his A.D.H.D. mind was on high-alert and his eyes darted around, taking in every single detail of his surroundings.

Once a tense minute had passed with nothing showing up to try and kill him, Percy let his body relax and let out a breath in relief. His sea-green eyes looked around the New York skyline and he realized where they'd landed. "We're on top of the Chrysler Building," he noticed absently before wincing as he felt his back shift back into place with an audible crack. The son of the Lord of Horses then turned and asked Blackjack, "How long was I out for?"

_Couple hours,_ the Pegasus answered him, but kept staring downwards at the traffic below. _I gotta say, boss: you sleep like a rock. You didn't even wake up when that bit of thunder loud enough to make me go deaf exploded around us._

"A few hours," Percy repeated with a small frown. He then walked over to his trusted steed's side and placed a hand on the horse's side. "I'd have thought Argus would've already dropped them off at the bus station and we'd be going west by now."

_Oh, Argus ain't driving boss,_ Blackjack stated as they both watched the van they were following merge into the lane on the left. _That girl is._

"Which one?" Percy asked. There were three, after all.

_That Hunter girl,_ the Pegasus told him. That means one of two. _The one with that silver-crown-thingy in her hair._

"Zoë?"

_That's the one._ Blackjack's muzzle then turned to the right and he got excited for some reason. _Hey, looky! There's a donut shop. Can we get something to go?_

The black-haired teen merely smiled in amusement and shook his head, making Blackjack whinny in dismay. _So, Zoë's the one driving,_ Percy thought as he continued to stare at the van as it snaked through traffic and made its way towards the Lincoln Tunnel. A thin frown appeared on his face as he continued to ponder, _She doesn't look sixteen, but – then again – all the Hunters are immortal. Just how old is Zoë?_ he asked himself as he thought about the dream he'd just had.

There was absolutely _no_ doubt that the girl he'd seen was the same Zoë Nightshade who'd been absolutely, downright spiteful towards all the _boys_. Percy knew that he'd seen pictures of the man who'd been in the garden and that he was supposed to know who he was, but he just couldn't place it.

"Gods, I'm no good at this," the dark-haired teen grumbled under his breath. "I know that I know this."

All-of-a-sudden, Percy felt his body tense like it was preparing for a big battle, not a friendly sparring match. His eyes sharpened and he reached into his pocket, pulling out Riptide – _Anaklusmos_, Zoë had named it. The young demigod shook his head of those morbid thoughts before uncapping the pen and it turned into his meter-long blade.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a patronizing voice came from behind him.

The demigod teenager's sea-green eyes widened in shock and alarm as he quickly recognized the voice. _It just _had_ to be him._ The dark-haired boy glanced down at his and Blackjack's feet – or hooves, in the horse's case – and grew a little panicked at what he saw.

Percy and his companion both whirled around just before the grapevines that were magically sprouting from the cracks atop the Chrysler Building could wrap around their ankles and the pair witnessed the Camp Half-Blood director appear. However, before either of them could move again, the godly-enhanced grapevines wrapped around their legs and began to snake their way up their bodies.

_God alert!_ Blackjack panicked. _It's the wine dude!_

Mr. D was leaning against the Chrysler Building's spire with his arms crossed over his leopard-print shirt and the God was looking down at them. The God of Wine pounded his ankles on the structure behind him impatiently as he stood in the air above them.

Dionysus let out an annoyed sigh before greeting them, "The next person, _or horse_, who calls me 'The Wine Dude' is going to wind up in a bottle of Merlot!"

"Mr. D," Percy greeted the Camp Director stiffly, _trying _to stay polite since he was standing in front of a being capable of killing him with no more effort than snapping his fingers. "What are you doing out here?"

"I believe that is _my _question, boy," the god spat bitterly as his hair continued to whip around his face due to the wind from being so high up in the air. "Did you honestly think that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp wouldn't notice you leaving without permission?"

"Well…" he started to answer. "I'd hoped. But what does it matter to you if I leave or not?" Percy shot back.

The god wearing the leopard-print shirt's purple eyes hardened as he gazed down at the young demigod. "Watch your tone, _boy,_" Mr. D warned him. "I should toss you off this building – minus your little flying horse companion – and see how _heroic_ you sound on your way down for your cheek; Poseidon be damned."

Percy closed his fists so tight that his knuckles turned white and his jaw tightened as he felt rage build up in his chest directed at the god before him. "What did I ever do to you?" the demigod asked through gritted teeth. "I haven't done anything to you, so why do you hate me so much?"

The grapevines over the dark-haired teen's legs coiled around him tighter as Dionysus' eyes turned into purple flames. "You are a hero, boy," the deity informed him with a look of utter disdain contorting his face as a few strands of salt-and-pepper hair blew over his eyes. "I need no other reason."

"I _have_ to be on this quest!" Percy insisted as he screamed at his captor. "I won't leave my friends to die when I can help them! That's something you wouldn't understand, you apathetic drunkard!"

_Um…boss,_ Blackjack spoke to him meekly. _Seeing that we're wrapped up in vines about a thousand feet up, you might not want to call him that._

The black-haired demigod felt the grapevines constrict his legs so tightly that he lost all feeling in his lower half. His eyes darted back to where he'd last seen the van and he realized that it wasn't far from entering the Lincoln Tunnel, and if he couldn't watch the van after that, then he'd most likely lose it for good.

The immortal's face changed into one of absolute fury at the child's insult. "Tell me then, do you know the story of Ariadne?" Mr. D asked in a disturbingly calm voice that sent Percy's danger senses haywire as the god slowly descended from the air until his heels echoed on the concrete of the Chrysler Building. He then began to walk over towards his two captives at a leisurely pace, his steps somehow echoing over the roar of the wind around them. The god took another step, the purple flames in his eyes dancing dangerously as he continued in the same dangerous tone, "Beautiful young Princess of Crete?

"She liked to help her friends too. In fact, she helped a young hero. Perhaps you've heard of him? He is your half-brother, after all. Theseus was his name. Ariadne gave him a ball of magical yarn which helped that _hero_ find his way out of the Labyrinth, and do you know how your _brother_ rewarded her?" At this point, Dionysus' face was directly in front of Percy's, violet flames hissing menacingly in the god's eyes.

The son of Poseidon felt like he should've been feeling sufficiently cowed by the amount of killing intent he could feel coming off of Mr. D in waves, but he refused to back down, so he glared right back into the deity's eyes. "They got married," Percy guessed stiffly, not really caring and wanting Dionysus to simply leave him. "End of story. Happily ever after and all that."

The God of Wine sneered before his body grew until he was standing close to ten feet tall. "Not quite," he told the demigod as he looked down through his nose at the boy. "You see, Theseus _said _he would marry her. He took her aboard his ship and sailed for his home, Athens. About halfway back, on a little island called Nexas, he… What's the word you mortals use today? Oh yes, he _dumped_ her.

"I found her there, you know," the god informed him. "Alone. Heartbroken. Crying her eyes out because of a _hero_. She'd given up everything, been disowned by her family for helping that _hero_, forced to abandon her entire life, all just to wind up tossed aside like a broken sandal by a dashing. Young. _Hero_."

"That's horrible," Percy answered with disgust at his former half-brother's actions. "But that was a few thousand years ago. I'm _not_ like that. I would rather spend eternity in the Fields of Punishment than betray my friends. It's got nothing to do with me."

Mr. D looked down at him coldly, and the vines around the demigod tightened further again, causing him to wince in pain. "I fell in love with Ariadne, boy," the god informed him evenly. "_I _healed her broken heart, and when she died I made her my immortal wife on Olympus. She awaits me even now, spawn of Poseidon. I shall return to her once I am done with this infernal century of punishment at your foolish camp."

Percy visibly recoiled in shock at hearing this new bit of knowledge before blinking at the man blankly. "You're… You're _married_!? But I thought you got in trouble for chasing a Wood Nymph –"

"My _point_," Dionysus interrupted him coolly, "is that you heroes never change. You are all the same. You accuse we gods of being vain, but you should take a look in the mirror sometime. You take what you want, _use_ whomever you have to, and then you all betray everyone around you; so you'll have to excuse me if I hold no love for _heroes._ They are a selfish, heartless, manipulative, and ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne, Medea, or – for that matter – ask Zoë Nightshade."

Percy's sea-green eyes went wide in realization at hearing the deity's last words. "I knew it," he breathed out. "So it really was a vision, not just a dream."

"Yes," Dionysus stated with condescension readily apparent in his tone. "It wasn't 'just a dream.' Go," he said to the demigod as he waved his hand dismissively and the vines around the demigod began to loosen and recede back into the building cracks from whence they came. "Follow your silly friends."

Percy stared at the god in disbelief as Mr. D shrunk back down into the size of a regular human and turned around briskly. "You're… You're letting me go?" he asked, still stunned. "Just like that?"

Mr. D began to walk back towards the spire of the Chrysler Building as he told Percy, "The prophecy states that at least two of you shall die on this gods-forsaken quest. Perhaps I'll get lucky and you'll be one of them." The God of Wine reached the spire and then turned back around, violet flames flickering in his eyes once more as he finished, "But mark my words, son of Poseidon: Live or die, you will prove to be no better than all the other _heroes_ before you."

With that chipper farewell, Dionysus snapped his fingers and the air around him shimmered out of focus. The God of Wine's hazy form then began to continually fold itself in half like a piece of paper until it disappeared into the air with an audible 'pop!' There was a faint scent of grapes left over before it was blown away by the wind.

_Tooooooooo close,_ Blackjack whinnied as he stretched out his wings.

"You have no idea," Percy murmured in answer as he stared at where the god had just disappeared, a hundred different thoughts bouncing around his head and giving him a headache. The demigod then re-capped Riptide and the blade turned back into a pen before he said to the horse, trying to sound confident even though he was visibly shaken by the encounter with the god, "Come on, Blackjack. I'll buy you some donuts in Jersey."

The son of Poseidon then climbed back onto his steed doing his very best not to think about the rapidly-dwindling chances of this quest's success.

_First I find out I'm gonna have to fight Atlas, then I find out Zoë was betrayed by a hero that I know I should know, and now I find out Mr. D is actually married. What next, the Nemean Lion?_

Blackjack then took off and they both continued to trail after Zoë, Thalia, Bianca, and Grover, with Percy suddenly shivering as if someone had just walked over his grave.

* * *

It had been about another two hours since their confrontation with Mr. D.

Zoë had driven south at such speeds that Percy was still amazed that she hadn't been pulled over by the cops yet. Then he remembered how Thalia had been able to manipulate the Mist back when they were at Westover and figured that they must be doing something similar in order to not be caught by the police.

_How cool would that be?_ The teenager couldn't help but wonder with a mischievous smile on his face. _Driving down the interstate as fast as you want and not having to worry about getting a ticket. Mom won't ever let me get my license if I tell her I could do that. Must not let mom know._

Zoë had pulled over at a rest stop when they'd first crossed over the state border into Maryland, but they hadn't stayed there very long. Percy had barely been able to let Blackjack get a breather before the four quest members had hopped back into the van and started driving towards D.C.

While they'd been at the rest stop Percy had hopped off of Blackjack intending on getting a bottle of water or something for his rapidly-tiring steed, but the group of four had come back out before he'd gotten the opportunity. Grover had said something about using a tracking spell which was telling him that they needed to go to Washington, and Zoë seemed to want to disregard it and head straight west instead. The lieutenant of the Hunt and Thalia had then engaged in a brief verbal spar, and it seemed to be happening pretty often if what Bianca had stated was true. The four of them had then climbed back into the camp's van and had hopped back onto the interstate, forcing Percy to have Blackjack work with barely any rest.

As he and the Pegasus crossed over the Potomac River, Percy was deep in thought over everything he'd found out in the past twelve-or-so hours. He may not be a son of Athena, but he wasn't a _total_ idiot. He'd spent the majority of the past two hours mulling over everything and had been able to figure out a couple of things, but each of those just left him with more unanswered questions.

First was his vision of Artemis and then finding out that the Titan who'd captured her was _the_ Atlas, which still made him shiver every time he thought about it. Percy couldn't figure out what the beast the goddess had been hunting was, but it seemed to him like Atlas and Luke had known what it was and that they had some plan that hinged on it. No matter how hard he thought though, Percy just couldn't come up with any ideas on what the traitor and his new commander were scheming, so he decided he'd think about it later. But by the way that Atlas had spoken in the dream, he needed to figure out what the Titan's plan was quickly, or else something _very _bad was going to happen.

Next was his dream in the garden and Mr. D's admission that Zoë had been betrayed by a hero in the past. He was able to eventually puzzle out that the hero in his dream had been _the_ Heracles once he'd realized that the lion's pelt had to have been the Nemean Lion – thanks to his rhetorical question after his 'talk' with Mr. D – and that it had most likely taken place during his Eleventh Labor, as the name _Ladon_ could only refer to one thing: The Dragon which guards the Golden Apples in the Garden of the Hesperides.

Percy had known that Heracles hadn't been a saint during his life, but the most well-known hero in all of history had been someone the son of Poseidon had looked up to, and discovering that he'd stolen his idea for the Eleventh Labor from Zoë and had cost the girl her home dropped his respect for Heracles quite a few notches. Heracles was the reason for Zoë being so bitter towards men in general was his conclusion, and Percy couldn't fault the olive-skinned Huntress for her attitude at all.

_Theseus, Jason, and Heracles,_ the young demigod thought about the three heroes that Dionysus had alluded to earlier, his mood turning sour at being reminded of each of the heroes abandoning a woman for selfish reasons. _I used to think they were such great heroes – people to admire, to strive towards being like. But now…I'm not too sure._ The young demigod shook his head in order to get away from such morbid thoughts. He looked down at his open, shaking palms before closing them tight and vowing to himself with true determination, _I won't be like them. I won't become like what Mr. D said I would._

_Hey… boss,_ Blackjack panted into his mind. _We're in…D.C. now._

"Oh," Percy said as he realized he'd been lost in his thoughts for some time now. "Sorry 'bout that Blackjack." He then focused his eyes and looked around, searching for the van that the two Hunters and his two friends had been traveling in. Finding it about to park, the demigod pointed to a vacant area of the field around the Washington Monument and instructed the Pegasus, "Set me down over there. I'll work on my own from there."

_You…sure…about that…boss?_ the black horse beneath him asked between pants. _I…can still…go._

"You've done well, Blackjack," the son of Poseidon complimented him as he patted the side of the horse's neck affectionately. "But I need to start on my own from here. After you drop me off, I want you to go back to camp and rest. Got it?"

_Yeah, sure,_ the Pegasus answered him before tilting to the left and spiraling down to where Percy had pointed at.

Once Blackjack had safely landed in the secluded area and came to a stop, Percy hopped off before running his hand through his steed's jet-black mane. "You did amazing, Blackjack," he reiterated to the visibly-tired horse. "Go back. Get some rest. Graze. I'll be okay."

The horse neighed once before tilting his head to the side and asking him skeptically, _You sure, boss?_

"I'll be fine," he assured his friend with a smile. "Thanks a ton for the ride, my friend."

_A ton of hay, maybe,_ Blackjack mused. _That sounds good. Alright, but be careful boss. I got a feeling they didn't come here to meet anything friendly and handsome like me._

Percy stroked his friend's strong neck once more with a grin before promising, "I'll be careful, but trouble likes to follow me around."

The Pegasus rolled his eyes at his rider before nuzzling his black head into Percy's hand. Blackjack then turned around and flew off, circling over the Washington Monument twice before disappearing into the clouds above the city.

The sea-green-eyed teen smiled up at the sky fondly before shaking his head and returning to the task at hand: Trailing the group for the quest. He quickly placed the Invisibility Cap over his head after briefly glancing around and finding no observers. He felt the small layer of potent magic cover him as his visible form became impossible for the naked eye to notice.

The black-haired demigod then trekked across the field surrounding the gigantic marble spire until he saw the white camp van park about a block away. He watched everyone get out of the van and then gather together on the sidewalk with Grover – while wearing his fake feet and on his crutches – in the lead. The satyr on crutches then pointed towards one of the large buildings lining the Mall and Thalia nodded at him before the four of them began walking towards the place Grover had indicated.

Percy started to follow them from a distance, but froze as he saw a familiar black sedan park and one of its doors opened. He quickly realized that he'd actually seen this car before while he and Blackjack had been following Thalia and Grover.

This vehicle had been doing what he'd been: It had been following the van from a distance.

His sea-green eyes watched a site which shouldn't be too out of place in a city like D.C.: A tall man with grey hair cut in a short military buzz style wearing dark sunglasses and a pure-black overcoat stepping out of a blacked-out sedan. The man then pulled out his cell phone and spoke into it before re-pocketing it and looking around.

Percy's eyes went hard when the man looked in his direction, as the son of Poseidon immediately recognized the manticore – or Dr. Thorn, as he was called when not in monster form. Thorn then shut his car door before walking off in the direction that the four questers went.

The young demigod silently stalked Thorn as the monster-in-human-form trailed his friends. The grey-haired monster was following the two Hunters and Camp Half-Blood members carefully, taking extra care to not be seen or noticed.

As Grover finally came to a stop, he directed the group around him towards a grand building Percy recognized from his younger years: The National Air and Space Museum. Thalia checked the door first and it swung open. Since there wasn't any crowd due to it being the middle of Winter Break, she led the other three into the Smithsonian and disappeared behind the doors as they shut behind them.

Percy felt certain that Thorn was going to attempt to follow his friends into the museum, but the son of Poseidon was surprised once the manticore-in-human-form hesitated. Thorn then turned away from the space museum and began to walk across the Mall.

Making a quick decision, Percy chose to follow Thorn.

He gripped the hat on his head tightly as he trailed Thorn. The demigod made certain to stay close enough to see, but far enough away and downwind from the monster in order to not be smelled out.

Percy sent up a silent prayer of thanks to Athena for Annabeth's magic Yankees cap. As he continued to follow Thorn from a distance he realized that every time he'd worn the hat and the magic covered his body he'd not felt any wind or cold reach his skin.

Thorn crossed the street after waiting at the crosswalk for a few minutes with Percy being extremely careful not to be discovered as he trailed after the monster ahead of him. The grey-haired man climbed up the steps leading to the Museum of Natural History, and the dark-haired demigod noticed a large sign on the entranceway that his dyslexia originally was the cause to confuse him, but he quickly realized that the sign meant 'Private Event,' not 'Pirate Event.'

The invisible teen followed Thorn into the museum from a distance and after a couple of minutes of walking they came to a closed set of double doors which had a pair of burly guards standing outside. The two guards both nodded to Thorn as he approached the brown entryway before they each grabbed one of the doors and opened them for Thorn to enter. Percy sprinted through the doors in order to not get shut out once the guards began to close the doors after Thorn had made his way into the room.

The son of Poseidon used all of his willpower to stop himself from gasping at the scene he walked into, since doing such a thing would most likely get him killed in some horrible, gruesome way.

He'd walked into a great room larger than any auditorium he'd ever been to before. This room had a grand balcony ringing above him that had columns extending down from the ceiling to the ground floor below. More than two dozen mortals stood around the balcony, with each of them carrying some type of assault rifle or sub-machine gun. The room's walls were all painted a dreary black while the columns were all a deep, dark grey. Very little light was present in the room, and the sound of Thorn's footsteps echoed in the silent room eerily as he walked out to the middle of the circular room.

Percy's eyes narrowed as he witnessed the traitor himself, Luke, standing between two women who had a pair of snake trunks instead of legs – Scythian Dracaenae, he remembered their type of monster immediately from one of his many study sessions with Annabeth. Luke was staring directly down from the second level in such a fashion that it seemed as if he could see Percy, even though he was currently invisible.

If the dark-haired demigod was capable of it, he might've felt a little pity for the son of Hermes at the way he looked. The pale blonde's skin was so pale that he was nearly as white as a sheet and his blonde hair looked nearly grey. His eyes still held that angry glint in them, and the scar which ran down the side of his face was now an ugly red, like it'd recently been reopened.

Next to the traitorous child of Hermes was a throne, with its resident's face cloaked in the shadows. The man in the chair gripped the armrests of his throne, revealing only his knuckles to the light.

"Well?" the man's voice boomed from the chair, so powerful that it filled the room and made it seem like the room itself was shaking.

Percy's eyes went wide in fear once he recognized the voice from his dream about Artemis. _Atlas,_ he said silently as he mouthed the name. The demigod felt an involuntary shiver travel up his spine as he felt the sheer _power_ the Titan's mere presence radiated around him even from this distance.

Thorn took off his dark sunglasses, revealing his two differently-colored eyes. His eyes, one brown and one blue, glittered in what little light was present in the room with a disturbing excitement. He gave Atlas a stiff bow before stating in his unique French accent, "They are here, General."

"I know that, you fool," Kronos' right-hand man informed him, the Titan's voice shaking the room once more. "Where are they?"

"In the rocket museum," the monster-in-hiding stated in answer.

"The Air and Space Museum," Luke corrected him irritably.

Thorn raised his head and gave Luke a distasteful glare. "As you say, _sir_," he spat out bitterly.

"How many?" the blonde traitor asked.

Thorn acted as though he hadn't heard him.

"_How many_!?" the Titan roared impatiently, the building really shaking this time. Two mortals stumbled as the balcony shook beneath their feet.

"Four, General," Thorn reported to him, his voice a little shaken at the power Atlas' mere voice held. "That satyr, Grover Underwood, and the girl with the spiky, black hair and the – how do you say – _punk_ clothes and that dreadful shield."

"Thalia," Luke stated with a small smile, and Percy immediately wished he was up on the balcony himself so that he could run the traitor through with Riptide.

Thalia had actually left Percy's presence after they'd talked about all of the traitor's 'exploits' hiding tears, and _nobody_ hurt Percy's friends like that and lived to tell the tale.

"And two other girls," Thorn continued, oblivious to the killing intent coming from behind him. "Both Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."

"_That_ one I know," Atlas growled from his throne, making Percy's curiosity grow as everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.

_How does a Titan like Atlas know Zoë?_ Percy wondered. He quickly shook his head and reminded himself that he could think about all of this later. Right now, he needed to focus his mind on not being found out and then discovering a way to escape without being seen after seeing as much as he could.

"Let me take care of them," Luke implored of the General as he turned to the throne to his left. "We have more than enough –"

"Patience," the Titan spoke as he raised his hand, silencing the son of Hermes. "They'll have their hands full already. I've sent a little playmate to keep them occupied for the time."

"But –" the blonde tried to protest further before being cut off once more.

"We cannot risk you, my boy," Atlas declared, causing Luke to relent.

"Yes, _boy,_" Thorn added on with a feral smirk. "You are much too fragile to risk. Let _me_ finish them off."

"No," the Titan stated evenly before rising from his chair.

Atlas was tall – easily over six feet – and _very_ muscular, with light-brown skin and slicked-back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown Armani suit, but nobody would ever make the mistake of assuming he was a simple stock broker or lawyer. The Titan's face was littered with thin, white battle-scars, he bore shoulders thicker than Percy's torso, and his hands were so large that each finger looked as thick as a small dagger. His eyes were a volcanic black, reminding the young demigod of someone he knew but couldn't place at the moment.

"But General –"

"No excuses!" Atlas thundered, cutting any protests the now-cowering beast could make. "I should throw you into the pits of Tartarus for your incompetence! I send you to capture me a child of one of the three elder gods, and you bring me a scrawny little daughter of Athena!"

"But you promised me revenge!" Thorn yelled back desperately. "A command of my own!"

"_I _am Lord Kronos' senior commander," Atlas informed the man evenly as he looked down at Thorn, like he was no more than a mere ant to be crushed beneath his heel, "and I will choose lieutenants who get me results! It was only thanks to Luke that we managed to save our plan at all. Now get out of my site, Thorn, until I find some other menial task for you to undoubtedly screw up."

Thorn's face turned purple with rage. His hands and jaw clenched in pure anger before he gave Atlas a stiff, awkward bow, turned on his heel, and left the room.

The sound of the doors shutting echoed in the room as Atlas turned to Luke. "Now, my boy. The first thing we must do is isolate that half-blood Thalia. The monster we seek will then find its way to her, and the sacrifice may proceed as planned."

"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of," the blonde reported. "Zoë Nightshade –"

"Do _not_ speak her name!" the Titan roared angrily, dust falling from the ceiling as the room was shaken once more.

The son of Hermes gulped nervously. "S-Sorry, General. I just –"

The Titan commander silenced him with a wave of his hand. He then said, "Allow me to show you, my boy, how we shall bring the Hunters down." The Armani-wearing man then pointed at a guard down on the ground level and asked, "Do you have the teeth?"

The guy stumbled forward, his knees shaking as he carried a ceramic pot. "Yes, General!" he confirmed.

A smirk crawled over Atlas' face as he simply ordered, "Plant them."

The random guard walked over to the blank exhibit that was in the center of the room before he took out about twelve sharp teeth out of the pot and pushed the white bones into the dirt. He smoothed over the soil and the Titan's smile turned cold.

The guard stepped away from the now-smooth dirt and wiped his hands on his pants before looking up and saluting at Atlas, "Ready, General!"

"Excellent!" Atlas responded eagerly. "Water them, and we will let them scent their prey."

The guard then reached behind the exhibit and pulled out a small, tin watering can that had daisies painted on it, which Percy found ironic considering he got the feeling that they weren't trying to grow flowers. The guard then tipped the can over and a deep crimson fluid poured out of the watering can, and the coppery smell confirmed Percy's grim suspicions.

The soil began to bubble where the teeth had been buried, and the General of the Titan armies began, "Soon. I will show you, Luke, soldiers that will make your army from that little boat look insignificant."

Luke clenched his fists and they shook in anger. "I have spent a year training my forces!" he exclaimed. "When the _Andromeda_ arrives at the mountain, they'll be the best –"

"Ha!" Atlas laughed in bemusement, and the room shook again. "I do not deny that your troops shall make a fine Honor Guard for Lord Kronos. And you, of course, will have your own role to play, but under my leadership, the forces of our Lord will swell over a hundredfold. We will be completely unstoppable." He then gestured for the visibly-paler Luke to look at the boiling soil and stated, "Behold, my ultimate killing machines!"

The soil erupted in a solid stream of dirt that extended over ten feet high. Percy felt a pit of despair well up in his stomach as he took a fearful step backwards.

In each spot where a tooth had been planted, a creature began to struggle its way out of the dirt. The first one climbed out of the soil and Percy felt his eyes go wide in a comic display of disbelief before he had to suppress a snort of laughter as the 'ultimate killing machine' said, "Mew!"

It was a kitten. They all twelve were little orange tabbies with black stripes like a tiger. All dozen of them began mewing and started to play around in the dirt.

The room was silent as everyone in it gaped and stared at the site before them in stunned disbelief. Atlas' face turned red in rage as he thundered with such force a few cracks appeared on the ceiling, "_What is this_!? _Cute, cuddly kittens_!?_ Where did you find those teeth_!?"

The guard who'd brought and planted the teeth cowered in fear. "From-From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The saber-toothed tiger –"

"No, you idiot!" the Titan screamed at the man as a small spot on the seam of the guard's pants turned a little bit darker than the rest. "I said the Tyrannosaurus! Gather up those…those infernal, fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again."

The terrified man dropped his watering can before he gathered up the kittens in a brown bag and scampered out of the room.

"You!" Atlas barked as he pointed to another guard who had been standing over to Percy's right. "Get me the _right teeth_. _Now_!"

The newly-appointed teeth thief was frozen stiff for a brief moment before he sprinted off and out of the room.

"Imbeciles," the Titan General mumbled as he ran his hand down his face in an exasperated motion.

"This is why I don't use mortals," Luke told him. "They're completely unreliable."

"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," Atlas listed off before a cruel smile adorned his muscular face. "I love them."

A few silent moments later, the guard from earlier rushed back into the room with a small pouch in his hand. "Here you are, General," he gasped out between breaths. "From the Tyrannosaurus exhibit, just as requested."

"Excellent," the Titan responded with a smile. He then placed one of his hands atop the banister which ran around the balcony and threw himself over the railing. Atlas crashed into the floor from over twenty feet up with such force that a tremor shook the floor and Percy had to brace against a pillar in order to prevent himself from falling over. The Titan walked out of the small crater he'd just created, his wooden heels echoing against the empty walls, rubbing his shoulder with one of his hands and rolling his neck around. "Curse my stiff neck," he complained with a small wince.

"Another hot pad, sir?" the guard holding the new batch of teeth asked him. "Or perhaps some Tylenol."

"No!" Atlas snapped at the poor mortal. "It shall pass." He then brushed some dust off of the breast of his suit as he walked over to the guard. The Titan grabbed the pouch from him and began to walk towards the patch of soil that the kittens had sprouted from earlier as he stated, "I shall do this myself."

As he stepped into the soil, Atlas reached into the pouch and pulled out a single tooth. Once he pulled out the tooth and inspected it, a victorious smirk appeared on his face as the Titan declared, "Dinosaur teeth – hah! Those foolish mortals don't even realize when they have real dragon teeth in their possession and not just _any _dragon teeth either. These come from the Sybaris herself! These shall do nicely."

The Titan who'd held the Sky for over three millennia then planted each of the twelve teeth that were in the pouch. Once he'd covered them all with soil, he picked up the watering can and went about pouring the red fluid onto each patch of dirt that covered a tooth.

As he finished 'watering' the teeth, he threw away the now-empty canister and expanded his arms wide. "Rise!" he commanded of the ground beneath his feet, and it answered his call.

The dirt under the Titan trembled as whatever foul magic Atlas was using began to work. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground with specks of dirt coating it, grasping at the air.

Atlas quickly turned to the balcony above and behind him before ordering, "Quickly! Do you have the scent?"

"Yessssss, lord," one of the dracaenae hissed in response. The other one then pulled out a sash of silvery fabric, and Percy felt the color drain from his face once he realized that it was _exactly_ like the kind the Hunters all wore.

"Excellent," the cruel Titan grinned up at the pair of snake-women. "Once my warriors have her scent, they shall pursue its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They shall tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it to me! Now!"

As soon as Atlas finished his words, the ground around him exploded with such tremendous force that dirt flew outwards, with Atlas being in the center of the blast, and coated everything within a five meter radius outward completely brown. To avoid becoming a brown outline in the air, Percy ducked behind a pillar and let a few seconds pass before poking his head back around and nearly gasping in shock at what he saw.

Twelve skeletons, one for each buried tooth that took part in that wretched ritual, lumbered around Atlas. Pure, white bones moved and clattered as each skeleton continued to circle around their new master.

The observing demigod felt his stomach churn as he watched each skeleton then begin to slowly grow flesh around their boney bodies. Grey muscles and skin slowly were sewn together around the bones, sinew, tendons, and plenty of other medical terms Percy didn't have the time to try and remember melted together, starting at the base of the creatures feet, covering their ankles, then knees, then thighs, then stomach, then chest, then shoulders, then arms and hands, and finally the head.

Head-to-toe these new monstrosities were covered in dull, grey skin that was basically see-through, allowing anyone capable of seeing through the Mist to catch a glimpse of each creature's skeletal frame shimmering beneath their semi-skin. Glowing yellow eyes formed in each creature's empty eye sockets once their skin had fully formed.

One of the skeletal warriors turned and stared directly at Percy, and it was as the monster regarded him with a cold expression that the son of Poseidon realized that no cloak or hat of invisibility would ever be enough to hide him from the creature.

Time seemed to slow for Percy Jackson as one of the dracaenae on the balcony above them all let the piece of silvery fabric slide out of her fingers. The silver scarf fluttered in the air as it fell through the still air towards Atlas' outstretched and open hand.

_I can't let it happen,_ the invisible demigod realized as he watched the scarf flutter down further. _If he gives that scarf to those things, then Zoë and all the other Hunters will die._

Percy acted.

He bolted across the room faster than he'd ever even thought he could move until he was standing in such a way that the scarf was directly in front of him and the doorway was aligned directly behind it, allowing him to grab the scarf out of the air and sprint straight out of the only open exit. Percy then grit his teeth in determination before sprinting in a straight line, jumping over the first line of skeleton warriors, grabbing the scarf out of the air, and somersaulting onto the ground on one knee, directly in front of one of the creatures.

"What's this!?" the Titan bellowed in surprise as the piece of silver fabric was taken out of the air. The skeleton warrior which Percy had landed directly in front of hissed and let out a bone-chilling crackling sound. Atlas' black eyes went cold as he growled, "An intruder. One cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!"

"It's Percy Jackson!" Luke exclaimed as loud as he could. "It has to be!"

Aforementioned son of Poseidon immediately sprinted for the exit. As he passed the last skeleton warrior impeding his way to the exit, Percy heard a sound that sent his heart plummeting into his stomach: Fabric being torn. He quickly realized that a piece of his shirt-sleeve had been torn off, but didn't allow himself to look back as he continued to run for his life.

The black-haired demigod just barely squeezed through the doors just before they slammed shut behind him. Not allowing himself to rest, he continued to sprint out of the building and towards the Air and Space Museum.

Whether Zoë liked it or not, he was coming to help.

He just didn't know if it was to help save Artemis and Annabeth, or to assist in their deaths.

* * *

**A.N.:** Merry Christmas, all of you pitiful mortals! dripley11 here, with another update for everyone's favorite P.J. fic, _Fatherly Advice_!

Okay, I'm embellishing things a bit, but seriously, Merry Christmas and well-wishes around for everyone. If you're not Christian and are slightly offended, then pleas don't be. I don't say that to make you feel awkward or anything like that, I am simply well-wishing you all in what I believe is a better way to communicate my wishes than 'Happy Holidays.' I may be loosely-defined as a Christian, but that doesn't mean I don't love everyone as equal human beings.

Now then, on to the story.

Atlas and Luke have made their first true appearance in my fic, hope you all liked it. I know it's basically the same as the book with just a few bits of dialogue tweaked here and there because I felt it communicated the characters better than what Riordan had originally written, but at this point in the story I am forced to do that. So if you were disappointed I apologize. Unfortunately, such a big scene must be written the same way at this point in time.

But do not despair! I have great news! The next two chapters differ rather greatly from what canon had done! Yes, that includes the battle with the Nemean Lion and the train ride that 'Fred' - AKA, Apollo - gave them all. They were originally planned to be one chapter, but the Nemean Lion was a tougher opponent than I'd originally thought, so that part just kept getting longer and longer and longer until I finally managed to kill it. You won't be disappointed, I assure you.

More great news! With the Christmas season finally coming to an end, I will be able to write more! Now I'm not going to be called to work at the drop of a hat in order to fix someone's mess - and I keep finding it odd that the person who screwed up is usually someone getting paid more than me... Oh well, that's the way it works in a Capitalist society. Hopefully, it won't stay that way forever.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas all, and a wonderful end-of-year. There will be another update soon and another on New Year's if my current plan stays true.

To all of you fans of my other fics, I shall return to them after the New Year has been rung in. I do apologize for making you wait so long, but inspiration strikes and forces me to continue without my consent. So until I have written these next two chapters - which, by the way, keep costing me sleep because of how many times I keep playing them over in my head - I am unable to return to my other children. An update for each should happen by the end of January. Don't quote me on that, but it is my plan.

Again, Merry Christmas! And don't forget the milk and cookies!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

The panicking child of Poseidon screamed across the road as fast as his legs would let him. Percy had to jump over a few vehicles on his way over so that he wouldn't become an invisible splatter on the ground.

The un-seeable demigod sprinted through the doors into the Air and Space Museum as a red-haired woman opened them so fast that she had to grip her sunhat and hold her dress down from the wind his speed kicked up in his trail.

He had no idea where Thalia and the other three were in the museum, so Percy just sprinted off in a random direction and prayed that he would run into any of the questers aside from Zoë, as he really didn't want his status as a man to come into question. Silver arrows to the groin were the Hunters' way of saying 'hello' to boys, after all.

Luckily – or unluckily, depending on how you thought about it – Artemis' lieutenant wasn't the one he 'found' first.

A brief flash of black was all the warning he got as he barreled around a corner at full speed. The invisible demigod crashed into the figure and both let out pained grunts as each of them flew for a brief moment before rolling on the floor in a tangle of messy black hair and ensnared limbs.

Percy and the person he'd crashed into both let out pained moans before he was eventually able to slowly flutter his sea-green eyes open and his sight registered black, lots and lots of black. He then flexed his hands to see if he still had any feeling in them, but found they were jammed in-between him and the other person and were gripping two…soft…somethings.

The teenager experimentally squeezed his hands on whatever they were holding through a thick layer of leather, and he heard a female's small gasp of shock as he did so.

_Shit!_ Percy realized quickly what he'd been holding in his palms as his eyes went wide in shock. _No, no, no, no, no,_ he pleaded with his body not to do what he could feel it doing. _She's already gonna kill me for this, and you're not helping!_

"Whoever you are," the voice of Thalia spoke in an a whisper that somehow communicated her absolute fury, "I hope you got a good feel, 'cause it's the last thing you're ever gonna!"

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Percy pleaded as blue electrical sparks danced in front of his fearful eyes. "It's me, Thalia! It's me!"

"Jackson?" the female demigod asked from on top of him. The electricity dispersed from her confusion as she continued to probe him, "What are you doing here? And why can't I see you!?" she demanded hurriedly.

"Annabeth's hat," he answered in a low whisper. "Can you get it off for me? My hands are…you know."

The sound of clothes rustling to his right preceded Thalia's groan of frustration. "I can't move my arms," she grumbled. "Turns out you're heavier than I thought."

"Okay," he said to her, doing his damndest not to think about his hands _or_ about what he was holding. "I'm gonna try and roll to my left, can you pull out your arm if I do that?"

"Should be able to."

"Here goes," he murmured before beginning to rock his body from side-to-side with Thalia's still on top of him. Eventually, he was able to get his right side far enough off of the ground and Thalia was able to free one of her trapped arms.

Percy fell back to the ground and his back felt cold as it rested on the tile flooring. Thalia then reached over his head and grabbed for the hat.

"Not there," he mumbled from beneath the slightly-older-in-body demigod's hand as it fell over his mouth and he felt a few fingers whisper over his lips. "Not there either," he spoke in a slightly squeaky voice as her fingers enclosed over his nose. "Ouch! That's my _eye_!"

"Sorry," the blue-eyed girl grumbled under her breath. "It ain't easy finding a hat on top of all this head you've got – aha!" she exclaimed as her hand _finally_ located the top of his head, after thoroughly exploring all of his face, and gripped the hat before removing it and leaning up slightly, revealing her pink-tinged cheeks to Percy. She held the hat over her head before saying, "Got it!"

"Great job," he congratulated with a roll of his eyes. "Now can you please roll off of me before –"

"Thalia!" Grover's worried voice screamed before the skittish satyr came around the corner and he saw the daughter of Zeus he'd been searching for. "I found her, guys!" the half-man, half-goat then called behind the corner he'd just come from and the two silver-clad Hunters joined him.

"You didn't need to yell," Bianca told the satyr as she stuck a finger inside her ear and twisted it around. "We were right there."

"Satyrs are all like that –" Zoë started before she saw the position the two demigods were in and froze. She scowled at the two of them both before her volcanic eyes shone with pure disdain. "I believe we are _interjecting_ something."

"_Interrupting _is the word you're looking for," Thalia grumbled at the Huntress. "But _no_, you weren't _interrupting anything_!"

"We see otherwise," Zoë stated with disgust.

Bianca and Grover's eyes both went as wide as dinner plates and their jaws hung slack at the site they walked in on. The eternal twelve-year-old immediately blushed an ever deeper shade than the two involved parties before turning around in an attempt to both save her own innocent eyes and allow them some privacy. Grover, meanwhile, turned his open mouth into a knowing smirk and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.

"I called it!" Grover bleated energetically as he threw his fist into the air like he'd just won something. "Now Connor and Travis both owe me ten drachma!"

"What was that, goat boy?" Thalia somehow managed to sound menacing as she growled from behind her beet-red face.

"Uh…" the satyr quickly backpedaled under the piercing electric-blue eyes of the daughter of Zeus and started to fidget nervously at the same time the two demigods disentangled themselves and stood back up.

The both of them awkwardly shuffled away from one another a couple of paces with each of their faces red as a tomato. Percy shook his hands and Thalia turned her glare on him, and he could _feel_ the killing intent coming his way mixed with embarrassment.

The daughter of Zeus crossed her arms over her chest with an indignant huff and her glare turned icy as she cleared up for him, "You're lucky I liked your mom, barnacle brain, and I don't wanna make her sad by killing you right now for that."

The younger demigod gulped as he fought to suppress his blush down, and had mild success at it. His cheeks were still a faint cherry-red as he tried to apologize, "I swear I didn't –"

"What are thy doing here, _boy_?" the elder Huntress demanded of him as she pulled out her bow and aimed an arrow at his chest.

Zoë's barely-restrained anger at seeing him caused Percy to recall exactly why he'd been running at such speeds in the first place. "Luke!" he declared to everyone. "He's here, and he came with friends."

Thalia's embarrassment and rage-filled face immediately melted at the mention of the blonde traitor before it was replaced with an expression that was a mixture of fury, sadness, affection, and hatred. Her electric-blue eyes sharpened in their intensity as she reached for her silver bracelet and asked, "Where?"

"Across the street," Percy reported quickly. "Luke, a couple of dracaenae, Thorn, and a _really_ dangerous guy they all called the General were in this big, ominous room, and –"

"The General is _here_?" Zoë asked with her eyes wide, stunned at the mention of Atlas. It was obvious to Percy that she knew who the General really was, as he picked up both recognition and a weird anxiety behind her volcanic eyes. "That is impossible! You deceive!" She pulled her bowstring even further back and the bow let out a creak in protest to the pressure it was being forced to withstand.

"I have no reason to lie," the green-eyed demigod pointed out as he stared Zoë down, not allowing himself to be the first to break their stare-down. "We don't have time for you hating men to interfere right now. There's these horrible skeleton warriors –"

"_What_!?" Thalia screamed at him. "How many are there!?"

"Twelve," Percy said to everyone, "and they're apparently really hard to kill, too. But there's more, too; that _bad_ guy said he was sending something over here – a 'playmate' for all of you, and I get the feeling you're gonna need all the help you can get."

Thalia and the satyr both looked at each other and nodded like they were sharing the same thought. "We were following Artemis' trail," Grover then turned and started to explain. "I'm pretty sure that it led to here. Some…_powerful_ monster scent… She must've stopped here and looked for the mystery monster, but we haven't found anything here yet."

"I get the feeling you won't," Percy added on, and Thalia gave him a small nod, indicating she'd been thinking the same.

"Zoë," Bianca finally spoke up nervously, "if-if it _is_ the General –"

"It _cannot_ be!" the olive-skinned Huntress snapped with a desperate anger. "Percy must have seen an Iris Message or some other type of illusion."

"Do _illusions_ crack marble floors after jumping twenty feet down!?" Percy shot back heatedly, getting sick and tired of Zoë insulting him in some way or another. "Look, I don't know why you don't want to believe it, but yes, it _is him_, and I _do_ know who _he_ is!"

Zoë, Bianca, and Thalia stared at him with curious expressions on their faces. The daughter of Zeus seemed as if she were re-evaluating him for some reason, Bianca was looking at him incredulously, and the Hunt's lieutenant let out a deep, calming breath before finally loosening her bowstring and pointing her silver arrow at the ground.

"If thine speak truly," the volcanic-eyed girl spoke in a semi-calm voice, "then now is no time for squabbles. If these are _the_ skeleton warriors I suspect, then we must go now."

"Smart plan," Percy grumbled.

"_Thee_ are not included, boy," Zoë nearly screamed at him, but Percy didn't back down.

"_I _don't care!" he shouted right back. "I just risked _my life_ spying on a _Titan _for your sake, you know!?"

Bianca and Grover were quivering in small forms in fear off away from the two engaged in the heated discussion. "A-A _Titan_?" the satyr asked in a small, timid voice. "Here? In D.C.? Across the street?"

"None asked you to!" Zoë yelled at him, the two small forms off to the side completely forgotten temporarily. "No gratitude is spared for thee!"

"I don't need your thanks!" the green-eyed teenager returned with equal intensity.

"Both of you just _shut up_!" Thalia cut in so loud her face went red, and she sent a small spark of electricity into both of the parties involved in their squabble. "You shouldn't have come here, Percy," she then reminded Percy scoldingly, "but you're here now. Come on; let's get back to the van and get out of here."

"That is not thine choice to make!" Zoë snapped at her after recovering from the shock she'd been given.

The spike-haired child of Zeus scowled at her before shooting right back, "You are _not_ the boss here, Zoë. This isn't your little Hunt, remember? You don't call all the shots in this quest for all of us. You haven't changed at all! You're still just a conceited little brat with a blind hatred because of _one_ time!"

"You never had any wisdom around boys," Zoë growled at her. "You're foolish to stay beside one! They will always –"

"Betray you?" Percy finished for her, making the circlet-wearing girl whirl around and glare at him with such hatred in her eyes that he was slightly surprised he didn't spontaneously combust at the site.

Zoë's face turned red with pure fury as she raised her hand and looked like she was about to slap the sea-green-eyed demigod, who was unfazed by the display. The punk-wearing girl next to him quickly summoned Aegis and made to move in between them in order to intercept the blow, but everyone froze as each of them felt a _very _dangerous presence appear below them.

Grover let out a nervous "Blah-ha-ha" that was immediately followed by a tremendous, animalistic roar that was so loud it shook the entire third floor beneath all of their feet. Down below, a few adults screamed in absolute terror.

Through all of the terrified screeches, Percy heard an excited little girl's voice squeal, "Kitty!"

The floor beneath all their feet shook and each of them creaked their heads around and every person's gaze fell onto a gigantic mass of yellow-and-orange fur bounding up the ramp towards them. The creature was well over fifteen feet in length from the tip of its nose to the hair on the end of its tail and its height easily stood above eight feet as well. The monster's red mane surrounded its huge, golden head with its manic eyes glittering in the light. It opened its mouth and revealed gleaming, silver teeth the same color as each of its extended, dagger-length claws.

"The Nemean Lion," Thalia breathed out in a low voice, and Percy cursed all three sisters of Fate for the irony. "Don't. Move."

The giant lion let out another monstrous roar that shook the entire building, also causing the five members of their gathering's hair to whip over their face. Its fangs glittered as it continued to make its way upwards, directly towards all of them.

"Separate on my mark," Zoë instructed them in a stern whisper. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover squeaked out nervously.

"Until I can think of a way to kill it," she answered seriously. The top of the lion's head appeared over the top of the third floor ramp and the most experienced member of the Hunt yelled out, "Move!"

Percy pulled out his blade-in-pen-form at the same instant Thalia did the same with her magical mace can. The two demigods each then revealed their individual weapons-of-choice – Thalia's magical spear and Riptide – and both rolled in opposite directions as silver arrows whizzed through the air right where their heads had just been.

The two Huntresses' arrows shattered against the invulnerable lion's hide as Percy got out of his roll and his mind started working on overdrive. Zoë and Bianca were already both climbing up the Apollo capsule while continuously pelting the lion with silver flashes from their bows. Thalia was hiding behind her shield as she began to move in front of the terrifying creature and use Aegis' ability to cause fear in anyone or anything that looked at the Medusa imprint in the bronze. Grover was frantically blowing on his reed pipes and attempting to cast what little magic he knew to help in the now-unavoidable battle.

The gigantic lion turned towards the two Hunters as more and more arrows continued to run down and break harmlessly on its hide. The golden monster let loose an angry roar once more before it tensed its legs and jumped over thirty feet in a single leap and landed next to the Apollo capsule. The Nemean Lion raised one of its large paws and swiped at the spaceship, causing it to tilt over and both members of the Hunt spilled off of it as each lost their footing.

In order to distract the lion from the now-helpless Hunters, Grover played a frantic tune on his pipes as loud as he could, and his idea worked. It saved Zoë and Bianca's lives, but the Nemean Lion then turned towards the visibly-sweating satyr and began to move towards its newest prey.

However, before it could enjoy a succulent goat-leg dinner, the daughter of Zeus appeared in front of it, her cursed shield raised high, making the beast recoil in fear of it. "Hi-yah!" Thalia screamed out as she advanced behind her shield. "Back! Back!"

Percy couldn't help but think that he'd seen a movie with a gladiator in a similar scene, but quickly reminded himself that now wasn't the time for that at the same moment the lion slashed its claws at the air in front of the shield. Thalia held firm, though, and continued to advance on the lion. It growled at her ferally before slowly backing up and retreating from the ominous shield.

The son of Poseidon's sharp eyes then caught the lion's hind-legs tensing in preparation for it to pounce over the shield and go after its wielder. Percy then abandoned all thought and charged, trying to divert the beast's attention and keep Thalia alive as he yelled out, "Hey, Ugly!"

The meter-long blade of celestial bronze – which was supposed to be strong enough to be able to cut through anything – clanged off of the Nemean Lion's right flank harmlessly once he'd swung at the creature. The golden feline's fangs dripped with saliva off of their sharp edges as it opened its maw and turned toward the green-eyed demigod with a hungry look in its eyes.

_For some reason,_ Percy thought in a grim humor, _I think that it believes I'm a steak._

The giant creature's sharp claws rose from the ground and slashed at him horizontally. Percy instinctively raised Riptide to block, and it most-likely saved his life. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to escape the swipe of the beast's razor-sharp claws unscathed, as he winced painfully once one of the talons sliced into his shoulder.

Riptide met the Nemean Lion's claws in front of the demigod's chest, but the gigantic beast's strength easily overpowered Percy's defense. Yet Percy managed to evade evisceration-by-claw by jumping as far back as his thighs allowed him to.

He felt his back collide with a round, metal object and he quickly realized that he was against the floor's railing. Beneath him was another exhibit, and in front of him was over a ton of invulnerable monster, so when the lion looked like it was eager and about to pounce again Percy took the obvious choice.

He turned and jumped.

Percy felt his knees nearly buckle underneath him as he landed on the wing of an old-fashioned silver biplane that had a four-pronged black symbol on it which Percy recognized, but couldn't remember from where. The child of the Sea God slowly extended his legs back to full length before he felt the world shift around him as the plane began to lean in the air because of the added weight. The black-haired demigod shoved his blade into the plane's wing in order to keep himself from sliding off and down to the museum's ground floor, three stories below him.

The teenager's grip on his blade's hilt tightened until his knuckles turned white as he felt an arrow whistle through the air over his head. He immediately raised his eyes and watched the gigantic lion fall through the air and land onto the opposite wing of the same display plane. Silver claws dug into the aircraft as it stalked after its prey slowly at the same time the metal cables holding the display up in the air let out a groan above them.

Percy removed Riptide from the plane's wing as fast as possible and raised it just in time to prevent another swipe of the lion's razor-edged claws from connecting with his body – this time his face. He then fell onto his stomach in order to avoid the immediate follow-up teeth attack before rolling to his right, avoiding the lion's rapidly-descending paw, and falling off of the silver plane's wing.

He crashed down onto the next display down, about another ten feet, and felt his head bounce on the object as his entire front side collided with the cold steel of the weird space-helicopter-ship. Percy let out a strangled gasp for air at the same moment he felt his grip on Riptide loosen before the blade slipped from his grasp and fell down to the floor, three stories below.

_Damn it,_ he mentally cursed as he flipped over and saw the lion roar once more from the wing he'd just fallen from, an idea appearing in his head. "Zoë!" he yelled as he witnessed the Huntress prowling the balcony to his left, standing on the railing like a graceful cat. "Target its mouth!"

"We have been!" she screamed back. "It is too intelligent to expose its weakness to us!"

The olive-skinned follower of Artemis then shot another arrow at the Nemean Lion in order to illustrate her point, and the golden beast immediately clamped its jaw shut. The silver flash burst against its invulnerable fur-hide before it loosed another earth-shaking roar.

The gigantic monster lunged off of the silver biplane and descended directly over Percy. The demigod's eyes went wide as the lion's grand shadow darkened over his body and began to expand over him. He didn't have time to think again, so he rolled off of another exhibit again, hoping there would be something to catch his fall once more.

Turned out there was a floor display of a gigantic model Earth below him as he fell. His stomach directly collided with the North Pole and he let out another strangled gasp in pain as the wind left his chest and he – rather ungracefully – tumbled down over North America and fell off of the Equator. The demigod's back slammed onto the floor and another desperate search for air tore out of his throat as he rolled for a few seconds before his body came to a stop, with him laying on his back and staring upwards, his eyes seeing stars for a moment.

Above him, he watched the huge lion land exactly where he'd been laying on the above display. The force of its fall onto the exhibit caused one of the thick, metal wires to snap as soon as it landed. The weird-looking space-helicopter swung like a pendulum in the air on its lone-remaining stabilizing wire. The Nemean Lion steadied itself before loosing another feral growl and jumping off of the display and landing atop the model Earth's North Pole. It stood there, eyeing its prey with a victorious glint in its eyes.

Just as the lion's legs tensed again in preparation of its pounce onto the temporarily-stunned Percy, a flash of silver crossed in front of Percy's vision and an arrow pierced the beast's left eye.

The giant lion let out a pained howl as it reared onto its hind-legs while a small trail of blood began to trickle down the left side of its face. The lion took a step backwards to retreat and its paw slipped on the sphere, causing the beast to tumble off of the model Earth. It fell in a golden heap on the opposite side of the Earth than Percy, who let out a relieved breath at seeing the sight.

The green-eyed demigod finally managed to catch his breath again at the same instant Thalia jumped down from the level above him and rolled into a ball once her feet hit the ground. The son of Poseidon shakily began to stand up and looked to his left, the direction the arrow had come from, and saw Zoë standing on that same railing she'd been on, perfectly balanced with her bow out. Percy nodded at her thankfully from his backside, but she merely glared at him stonily before pulling another arrow back in her bowstring and aiming at the Nemean Lion as it began to shakily stand again.

"Get up, Kelp Head," Thalia ordered him as she jogged over to him. She gripped his forearm and helped him stand up and steady himself before barking out, "Grover! Get these mortals out of here!"

"On it!" the satyr acknowledged before trotting off while playing a song on his pipes.

Once the still-swinging display had swung back across the way, Zoë hopped onto it, gripped the cable with her open hand, and rode the space-helicopter over to where the two demigods were re-gathering themselves. She jumped off of it just before the lone metal wire holding it up snapped and fell right on top of the lion, forcing its legs to give out beneath it and fall to the ground in a daze once more. The Huntress gracefully landed atop the globe before slowly sliding down North America and gently leaping off of Mexico.

The lieutenant of the Hunt softly landed in front of the both of them with a smirk on her face. "Were you trying to do that?" she directed to the lone male present with amusement in her eyes.

"Not really," Percy grumbled in response as he felt his pocket for Riptide, but it hadn't returned to him just yet. "Nice shot by the way. I owe you my life."

"Your father would take his anger over your death out on my Mistress," Zoë told him, all playfulness gone. "I did not do it for you."

"Yeah, I know," he answered her.

"Where's Bianca?" Thalia chimed in.

Zoë pointed to the landing above them and across the gap of the displays and each demigod followed her direction. "In the rafters," she informed the both of them. "As powerful as the Nemean Lion is, I would not find it unfeasible for the General to sneak someone in during the confusion to observe or end us. I have her watching for anyone suspicious with instructions to shoot at her discretion."

Both children of two of the Big Three blinked at her in shock at her forethought. "That's…pretty good," Thalia admitted through gritted teeth. "I'd not thought about that."

"Fighting for one's life precludes thought in inexperience," Zoë lectured them both sagely. "Three millennia of doing battle with beasts on equal standing as this one allow me to remain calm and think ahead."

"Where's Riptide?" Thalia asked Percy in a quick change of subject once she noticed the Nemean Lion beginning to regain its bearings and starting to stand again.

"Not as if it shall assist with _you _wielding it," Zoë spat before spinning around and staring at the lion with a calculating gaze.

Percy ignored the insult, remembering his dream from a few hours ago, and just pointed over the railing. "I lost it when I fell earlier," he informed his fellow demigod. "It should return soon, but it hasn't just yet."

"Shit," the daughter of Zeus cursed under her breath. "You're basically useless without it right now."

"I feel loved," he said sarcastically.

"You should."

"Not to interrupt," Zoe interjected before the two of them could continue, "but more important matters are at hand. Until _your_ blade returns to you, you must hold back. Without a weapon, you would be torn to shreds."

"I know that," Percy grumbled. He then turned to Thalia and said to her, "Aegis seems to be able to affect it."

"I know," the spiky-haired demigod answered before another roar shattered their little plotting session. She then ran forward as the lion came around the globe and yelled over her shoulder at him, "Don't you dare die, Kelp Head! Chiron and Uncle'll kill me if you do!"

The lion's one usable eye glared at all three of them in absolute hatred. Zoë's silver arrow was still lodged into its eye, with a small stream of crimson fluid dripping off of its jaw and onto the ground. It dug its front paws into the flooring and bellowed one last roar before charging at the trio.

"Stay out of this," Zoë told him sternly as her bow disappeared into thin air and two, foot-long hunting knives materialized into her hands. She held the two blades down, her arms fully extended and the shining silver blades' tips pointing directly at the ground. "Thine shall only get in our way if thou shouldst attempt to interfere."

With that farewell, Zoë bounced on the balls of her feet once before jumping in front of the gigantic lion, her volcanic eyes stony. She ducked under the first sideways swipe and rolled to the left in the same movement in order to avoid the lion's jaws as they clamped over where she had just been not even a half-second before.

Thalia then marched forward from behind her shield before the monster could continue its assault on the Huntress. The gigantic beast growled at the shield, but shied away as the shield's wielder continued to advance on it.

Percy saw Thalia charge the tip of her spear with electricity before jabbing it at the giant mass of golden fur. Even though the bronze tip couldn't pierce the invulnerable hide, the electricity surged into the lion and made it yelp in shock and pain.

Zoë then appeared over the lion's head and drove both of her knives' hilts into the base of the creature's skull, eliciting a pained howl from the large monster. In the beast's brief moment of distraction, Thalia sprinted forward and slammed Aegis into the beasts snout right after the Huntress leaped off of the giant monster's head, causing another roar of pain before both girls retreated from the beast.

Percy's eyes went wide as he realized what the pair of girls were doing. _Of course,_ he thought, honestly impressed at their strategy. _While you can't pierce the hide, it still feels the blow. Right now, the best way to fight it is to use blunt force, not blades. Oh, what I wouldn't give for Tyson to be here right now._

The next few minutes passed as Percy impatiently observed Zoe and Thalia do battle with the Nemean Lion. Thalia continued to use her shield to intimidate the beast, and when it focused in on the image of Medusa Zoë would then use the hilts of her hunting knives to attack the lion and slowly wear the monster down.

Their plan was working, but the two females engaging the lion began to get into a pattern of attack, and it would eventually be noticed. Thalia would use Aegis, then Zoë attacked, then the shield would be driven into the lion's face.

After the sixth successful execution, Percy saw the lion's eye gleam with a dangerous intelligence.

He didn't have time to think about what he thought he saw, so he just acted on instinct.

Whenever Thalia hid behind her shield, she ducked her head in order to force whatever creature she was battling to focus in on the shield directly so that Aegis' horrific aura could have its maximum effect. While that strategy generally worked and it allowed either Thalia or one of her allies to get in a fatal blow on their opponent while they're distracted, against something as mighty and invulnerable as the Nemean Lion it took your eyes off of your enemy and allowed for an eventual counter-attack that she wouldn't be prepared for.

So once the daughter of Zeus had ducked behind her shield the seventh time, the Nemean Lion did something completely different than it had been doing. Instead of backing away from the horrific image of Medusa, it closed its only working eye and tensed its legs. The gigantic muscles flexed as they appeared from underneath its hide as the golden lion reared itself up onto its hind-legs before jumping up and over Thalia, exposing her unprotected back to the beast.

As fast as the daughter of Zeus was, the beast of Heracles' first Labor was far faster. Her electric-blue eyes widened in terror as one of the lion's claws were raised and made to sever her body in half at the waist. Thalia closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen.

"THALIA!" Percy screamed desperately as he dove at the daughter of Zeus. His shoulder slammed into her stomach and he pulled her to his chest tightly as they flew through the air together. He twisted them in the air until he was between Thalia and the beast's gleaming claws. The giant lion's dagger-length, razor-sharp talons pierced Percy's back and raked up the entire length of his torso. The teenaged demigod winced in pain as he pulled his friend closer to him before landing onto the hard, unforgiving floor and sliding close to ten feet on the tile flooring. Thalia tumbled out of his arms once he felt his strength leave him.

Percy let out a pained cry so loud that he felt his throat burn as he came to rest on his newly-torn-apart back. His breathing grew fast, shallow, and ragged as he felt searing pain course through his entire system. He attempted to roll over and get his weight off of his injuries, but he was in too much pain to even move any more.

"Percy!" Thalia screamed worriedly once she'd gotten over the initial shock of being saved from certain death. She crawled over to his side and covered her mouth as a small gasp escaped from her mouth once she witnessed a pool of blood begin to form and continued to expand under him. "Oh, Gods. Don't you die on me, Percy!" she ordered.

"Back," he managed to rasp out, and Thalia nodded like she understood his message.

Unfortunately, she hadn't. Percy had meant, 'Watch your back! The Lion's almost here!' But she had taken it as him telling her to flip him over so she could get a look at his wounds.

Percy was forced to watch helplessly as the frantic daughter of Zeus flipped him over onto his stomach and the gigantic beast of legend silently crept up to the two demigods. Thalia began to whisper comforting words to him that he couldn't even hear anymore as the agony he felt was too much for him to bear.

The son of Poseidon closed his eyes and prepared himself for the death that he was undoubtedly about to have to experience. Death by mauling from a ton of lion hadn't been how he'd always imagined he'd go, but you don't always get to choose how you go to the Underworld. He hoped he'd done enough good deeds to get into Elysium, as he'd like to get to meet all the other heroes who came before him.

Steeling himself for the end, Percy cracked his eyes open and watched the Nemean Lion raise its clawed paw high. A brief flash of silver passed in front of his eyes as it began to descend upon the pair of demigods, and Percy shut his eyes tight, praying that he and Thalia wouldn't feel anything.

But darkness never came for him.

Slowly, Percy opened his eyes and let out a sharp gasp at what he saw, causing him to wince from the pain even that amount of movement gave him. There, with her hunting knives crossed above her head and somehow holding back the humongous lion's claws, was Zoë Nightshade. He could've sworn he must've been dreaming, but the fresh wave of pain from his back assured him that this was, in fact, reality.

Zoë was saving his life again.

"Thalia," she grit out painfully as her arms and legs shook under the force of the lion's power. "Take Percy and get him ambrosia. _Now_!"

"But –"

"If you don't, then your friend will die!" Zoë yelled at her authoritatively.

Thalia hesitated to flee. It wasn't in the nature of any of the children of the Big Three to run away from a fight. Eventually, she relented with a weak nod before picking up Percy, placing him over her shoulder, and running away from the lion.

Percy's hazy vision flickered black for a moment as he was lifted up from the ground before returning to normal. The edges of his sight were dark and the rest of what he could see was fuzzy and out of focus as he continued to bounce on his friend's shoulder.

Zoë's head turned and watched the two of them retreat out of the corner of her volcanic-black eyes. A small, fleeting smile graced her face at the same moment Percy's green eyes went wide in shock and terror at what he saw.

While Zoë had taken her eyes off of the huge lion, it had raised its other, unoccupied, gigantic paw off of the ground. The Nemean Lion then brought its open paw down in a horizontal sweeping motion, colliding with Zoë's side and swatting her out of its way.

The lieutenant of the Hunt went careening off before her back crashed into one of the walls of the building, her entire body leaving an imprint in the concrete once she peeled off of it. Zoë's limp form fell to the ground face-first with a small 'thud,' and Percy felt a sinking feeling grow in his gut.

Zoë quickly managed to prop herself up onto one knee, her face sweating and a trail of blood falling from her forehead and down over her now-closed right eye. Her lone-open eye darted around at speeds even a hawk wouldn't have been able to reach, seeking her two hunting knives quickly. Unfortunately, they were where she'd been before being swatted aside – right at the lion's feet.

Sensing its chance, the Nemean Lion changed directions and charged at the downed Huntress. Just before it managed to crush her, Zoë managed to roll to the right. A sickening 'crack' echoed in the air around them all as she tried to hurriedly get to her feet once more, causing the oldest member of the Hunt's face to turn into a pained grimace.

Before she was able to make any other movements, the giant lion extended one of its paws to its side and crushed Zoë's torso into the wall behind her. A brief flash of agony shone on her face before the injured girl managed to regain her composure and spit out a glob of blood as her body was continually pushed into the wall. Zoë stared at the lion, defiant in the face of death to the very end.

Knowing that he had to do _something_ to help, Percy mustered every single ounce of strength he still had, and even some that he was certain he hadn't possessed, and dug his right hand into his jeans' pocket. He winced painfully as he felt blood continue to drip down his injured-shoulder's arm, as well as from his heavily-torn back. Finally finding what he was searching for, the son of Poseidon gripped it as tightly as he could before pulling it out of his jeans and praying to every god possible that he would make it.

"ZOË!" he screamed as loud as he possibly could at the same instant he threw a bronze-colored object at the endangered girl, hoping he'd been able to gather enough strength.

Zoë's eyes went over to Percy before they went wide at the object as it sailed through the air. Her eyes sharpened as she extended her shaking arm outwards and opened her palm in order to catch the projectile.

The Nemean Lion's head was about two feet away from the olive-skinned warrior's. It then extended its jaw open and let out a grand roar in victory of finally catching its prey which shook the entire museum's building to its very core.

At the same instant the beast opened its mouth and began to let loose its victorious roar, Zoë's fingers enclosed over the pen Percy had thrown to her. She quickly uncapped Riptide and immediately slammed the meter-long, Celestial Bronze blade through the roof of the lion's maw.

Percy then felt fatigue's relentless pull drag him into unconsciousness.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, I hope you all liked it! It was fun to write this battle with the mythical beast of legend: The Nemean Lion.

One of the many things I didn't like about _The Titan's Curse_ was how Riordan portrayed this battle. In all honesty, he enjoyed using anti-climatic endings to such meaningful fights, not just in the third book, but throughout the majority of the series. I will admit that the big battles were done well in each one, but I just couldn't believe how simple he'd made the Nemean Lion to beat. I mean, I know how terrible space-food tastes, but it doesn't taste so bad that it'll kill something as large as the Nemean Lion.

Another little peeve of mine during the third book was how he'd made Zoë. Zoë was a Hunter for over three _thousand_ years, so I find it difficult to believe that someone like Percy - who hadn't even been in a real fight until two years prior - was able to figure out a way to kill the Lion before her. She had fought at the Goddess of the Hunt's side for so long that I really think that she's faced monsters even more powerful than the Nemean Lion and won in the end. Three thousand years of experience would sharpen anyone into a near-perfect machine in battle. Heck, just look at all the Gods and Titans for examples. I honestly think that Zoë should've been the closest to God-level strength than any of them. Now, she may've been but we didn't see much of it because of how Riordan decided to have Percy see her. I don't really know, but the Zoë in my story will actually act like someone with as much power, experience, and authority that someone of her status should've acted like in the canon plot lines.

Sorry about that little rant, but I just feel it needed to be said. Now, with that being said, that doesn't mean that certain things won't be alike to how Riordan showed us in canon. She is - as you can plainly see - still bitter towards boys in general. Certain matters may or may not alter her perceptions. I can't really say.

Now, what did you think about the battle, the chapter, the story so far, etc...? Personally, I liked writing this chapter the most out of all five so far. I'll be honest, I was actually taking my morning shower when the idea of having Zoë kill the Nemean Lion - and with her own blade no less - came to me. To be frank, most of my ideas - both good and bad - come to me when I'm in the shower rocking out to some 80's rock or listening to my Daft Punk or Avicii playlists. I guess that whole shtick about shower ideas is true, huh?

Please tell me your honest thoughts, as that's how I get better as a writer. Constructive criticism is appreciated, and will be taken into account after discussion with my beta about future plans for the fic. Also, plot ideas aren't unappreciated either. While I make the final call and will decide on whether or not to include the idea, I may decide to work with what was suggested if I think it'll set things up better in the long run.

Whelp, I think that concludes this episode of dripley11 rants. See you guys later, and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year if I am unable to update before then.


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